Health Tip: Protecting Children's Teeth

(HealthDay News) -- Watching what people eat and drink should begin in infancy. Eating and drinking right will promote a healthy body, including the teeth.

The American Dental Association suggests how to promote healthy teeth in children:

• Don't share feeding spoons with baby or put baby's pacifier in your mouth.
• Wipe down gums after each feeding with a clean, damp cloth.
• Begin brushing your child's teeth as soon as they come in, using a child-sized toothbrush and a light smear of fluoride toothpaste.
• Provide supervision when your youngster brushes teeth, until age 6 or so.
• Only formula or breast milk should be placed in bottles, never juice, soda or sugar water. Do not let baby take a bottle to bed.
• Never dip your child's pacifier in anything sweet.
• Get your child to drink from a cup by age 1.
• Promote eating healthy foods.