{"id":211,"date":"2025-02-08T18:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T18:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/?p=211"},"modified":"2025-04-12T18:14:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T18:14:43","slug":"early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Intervention: When to Start Brushing Your Child\u2019s Teeth"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Little<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As a parent or guardian, one of your greatest responsibilities is taking care of your child\u2019s health until they\u2019re old enough to take on that task themselves, and their smile is no exception. Many adults assume that they don\u2019t need to worry about their kids\u2019 grins until they have a full mouth of teeth, but nothing could be further from the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading to learn more about when and how you can begin brushing your little one\u2019s teeth to prevent potential problems<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Infants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to think that newborns don\u2019t have dental concerns because they don\u2019t have any teeth yet, but it\u2019s still essential that they have a clean mouth. They can still develop periodontal issues, which can spread to their jawbone and negatively impact the formation of their enamel or how their teeth grow in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, you don\u2019t have to do much to keep your baby\u2019s mouth in good shape. You won\u2019t need a toothbrush or toothpaste to start with, because there are no pearly whites to scrub yet. Instead, you can gently wipe your child\u2019s gums twice daily with a soft, moistened washcloth, a clean paper towel, or a folded piece of gauze. This removes bacteria that can cling to their connective tissues and contribute to dental disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, you should schedule their first dental appointment when their first tooth arrives, usually around 1 year old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toddlers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can begin consistently brushing your child\u2019s recently erupted teeth twice daily as soon as they arrive. It\u2019s usually not hard to find a variety of small-headed, soft-bristled, brightly decorated toothbrushes intended for still-developing smiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your child is too small to spit toothpaste out, you can gently scrub the surfaces of their pearly whites with warm water. Otherwise, you can use a dollop of kid\u2019s fluoride toothpaste (the size of a grain of rice) to strengthen their enamel while removing leftover food, plaque, and bacteria that cause dental problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As your child grows, they\u2019ll gradually start brushing and flossing their teeth on their own. The American Dental Association recommends replacing their toothbrush every three to four months, or when the bristles wear down, to ensure they get a thorough clean without reintroducing old germs. You might purchase floss picks that are easier for smaller hands to manipulate than glossy string to clear below their gumline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also schedule a routine checkup and cleaning with their dentist every six months. This ensures their provider can catch and address any areas of concern, like thinning enamel, before it progresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regular visits also teach them the importance of consistently caring for their smile!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At Cove Choice Dental, you and your family benefit from a team of dentists dedicated to helping people of all ages enhance their lives by improving their dental health. They share decades of combined experience providing a comprehensive menu of services to address all your needs at one convenient location. Then, they combine a compassionate approach with state-of-the-art equipment to keep you comfortable while delivering accurate results. Whether your child needs basic preventive care or has a cavity or gum disease that needs to be treated, they are happy to help! You can request an appointment on the website<\/a> or call (254) 987-6777.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a parent or guardian, one of your greatest responsibilities is taking care of your child\u2019s health until they\u2019re old enough to take on that task themselves, and their smile is no exception. Many adults assume that they don\u2019t need to worry about their kids\u2019 grins until they have a full mouth of teeth, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nEarly Intervention: When to Start Brushing Your Child\u2019s Teeth | Cove Choice Dental<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you\u2019re wondering when the ideal time is to begin brushing your child\u2019s teeth, continue reading to learn more about it!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Early Intervention: When to Start Brushing Your Child\u2019s Teeth | Cove Choice Dental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019re wondering when the ideal time is to begin brushing your child\u2019s teeth, continue reading to learn more about it!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Texas Choice Dental Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-08T18:12:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-12T18:14:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_483968798-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"texaschoicedent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"texaschoicedent\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/\",\"name\":\"Early Intervention: When to Start Brushing Your Child\u2019s Teeth | Cove Choice Dental\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_483968798-1024x683.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-08T18:12:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-12T18:14:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/21b50c79c446609c8cdf7e6e58f39cfc\"},\"description\":\"If you\u2019re wondering when the ideal time is to begin brushing your child\u2019s teeth, continue reading to learn more about it!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_483968798-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_483968798-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Early Intervention: When to Start Brushing Your Child\u2019s Teeth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Texas Choice Dental Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/21b50c79c446609c8cdf7e6e58f39cfc\",\"name\":\"texaschoicedent\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56dd37015d093e40df8ef4c76cc88f32?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56dd37015d093e40df8ef4c76cc88f32?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"texaschoicedent\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/author\/texaschoicedent\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Early Intervention: When to Start Brushing Your Child\u2019s Teeth | Cove Choice Dental","description":"If you\u2019re wondering when the ideal time is to begin brushing your child\u2019s teeth, continue reading to learn more about it!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Early Intervention: When to Start Brushing Your Child\u2019s Teeth | Cove Choice Dental","og_description":"If you\u2019re wondering when the ideal time is to begin brushing your child\u2019s teeth, continue reading to learn more about it!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/","og_site_name":"Texas Choice Dental Blog","article_published_time":"2025-02-08T18:12:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-12T18:14:43+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_483968798-1024x683.jpg"}],"author":"texaschoicedent","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"texaschoicedent","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/","url":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/","name":"Early Intervention: When to Start Brushing Your Child\u2019s Teeth | Cove Choice Dental","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_483968798-1024x683.jpg","datePublished":"2025-02-08T18:12:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-12T18:14:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/21b50c79c446609c8cdf7e6e58f39cfc"},"description":"If you\u2019re wondering when the ideal time is to begin brushing your child\u2019s teeth, continue reading to learn more about it!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_483968798-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_483968798-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/08\/early-intervention-when-to-start-brushing-your-childs-teeth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Early Intervention: When to Start Brushing Your Child\u2019s Teeth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/","name":"Texas Choice Dental Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/21b50c79c446609c8cdf7e6e58f39cfc","name":"texaschoicedent","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56dd37015d093e40df8ef4c76cc88f32?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56dd37015d093e40df8ef4c76cc88f32?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"texaschoicedent"},"url":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/author\/texaschoicedent\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213,"href":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texaschoicedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}