You may recall that I interviewed Pediatric Dentist Michael Hanna, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, in late November to bring you tips about caring for your baby's teeth. This is a follow-up post for moms who are still struggling to make brushing teeth a part of their family's routine...perhaps due to a toddler's "squirminess" or resistance.
As a quick reminder, babies should have their teeth brushed twice a day pretty much as soon as teeth appear and should visit a pediatric dentist no later than their first birthday.
If you find that your baby is resistant to the toothbrush, you might want to try Spiffies Tooth Wipes, a convenient disposable wipe that parents can use "anytime or anywhere...to clean baby's teeth." Created by Dr. Ray Wagner, a pediatrician who practices in Southern Arizona, Spiffies are made with parents in mind.
Here's another "made-up" interview (I came up with the questions; the Spiffies website delivered the answers).
Q. Does brushing really matter for babies? After all, those baby teeth are going to fall out anyway...
A. "Cavity causing bacteria live in plaque around the teeth. Once the bacteria become established in the baby's mouth, they become difficult to remove. In fact, most children with early childhood tooth decay transfer this infection to their permanent teeth."
Q. Are the wipes really as effective as a toothbrush?
A. "A recent clinical study showed that Spiffies are as effective as brushing for removing dental plaque from baby teeth. In addition, this study demonstrated that both moms and babies preferred the wipes to brushing, especially before bedtime."
Q. I brush my baby's teeth, but I sometimes forget to brush and/or floss and/or go to the dentist regularly myself. How will this effect my baby?
A. "Mom and Dad can transmit cavity causing bacteria to baby when they kiss their baby, or taste food with the same spoon the baby uses."
Spiffies Wipes come in three different flavors: Mango, Grape, and Apple...and are designed for children four months and older.
Surprisingly, my daughter doesn't mind getting her teeth "spiffied" at all. I give her gums and teeth a good wipe-down for bed as part of our routine and it seems to work out nicely.
I let my daughter brush her own teeth in the morning because she LOVES brushing her teeth. She often points at her toothbrush and wants to brush, brush, brush...especially when my husband and I are brushing ours (another good reason to make your own dental hygiene a priority - toddlers love to copy their moms). For us, the wipes are a convenience item - perfect for travel or times when we're on-the-go, but not necessary for every day use. But some parents might find that they want to use them every day, twice-a-day.
Spiffies are sold at a variety of retailers across the U.S.
WIN IT! One winner will receive 3 boxes of Spiffies, along with a small booklet entitled The Baby Tooth Care Guide. To enter, simply leave a comment and your e-mail address on this post prior to Tuesday, Jan. 15, at midnight. The winner will be contacted and announced on Wednesday, Jan. 16. * Winner must provide a U.S. mailing address.
* UPDATE * The winner is #29 Becca. Congratulations!
Please enter me thanks~
Good luck!
This will make it so much easier to brush Toothy's teeth! Thanks!
Anything that promotes dental hygene is a good idea. I would like to try this.
Great Idea, This is perfect for my granddaughter...Can't wait to tell my daughter-in-law.
These are great! Our dentist gives them to us when we're there.
What a cool product. My daughter got her first two teeth at 15.5 months old, and now at 16.5 months, she only has 4. I need to start brushing them, and this product looks like an easy way to do it.
I LOVE THIS GIVEAWAY ,THANKS
This would be an amazing product! I would love to try it!
He'll have teeth soon enough!
I'm excited for this, I've never heard of these before!!
Hope I win for a chance to try!!!!
This sounds like a great new product. I have a cousin that needs this for her baby boy. Thanks.
This would be great for my son! He's almost 2 :) Thank you!
i brush my toddlers teeth, but then we give her milk at bed so these would help a lot. just wipe them down after she sleeps.
bwalleshauser at yahoo dot com
Oh BOY, do I ever need these!
thanks for a chance to win
awesome product!!
ohmygosh, this is a GREAT idea!
Thanks for everything!
What a great, and practical, idea!
I have never heard of this....very cool review/giveaway. Thanks for the info and direction towards the site.
Caryn
Great idea.
My son has two "teffs" to brush!!
Id love to give those a try! [email protected]
That sounds fantastic! What a help.
What a clever product!
What a great idea, love to try this
I haven't had my baby yet, so I didn't even know this was a problem - I'm glad I found this site!
Sweet!
[email protected]
These would be interesting to try - maybe my baby wouldn't bite my finger so hard with these as he does with the finger brush. Ouch!
This would be great for my grandson's new teeth (all four of them!)
I would love to try this, I have a really hard time getting my little boy to stay still so I can brush his teeth!
thank you for sharing this product with us! my dd has eaten tooth paste on an occasion and this would definately eliminate that problem from reoccuring.
what a super idea!!!
what a great idea.
wonderful idea
I have wished for something like this for years. I use a washcloth towel to "brush" fussy-butts teeth.
These look great! Would love to win
What a neat idea!
I would love these for my toddler who hates the toothbrush! Thanks for another great giveaway!
What an interesting idea!
Wow, why didn't I think of these. How cool.
[email protected]
I have never seen these - what a great product! :)
This is so great! My little one has a hard time! It usually takes a good 10 minutes to brush his teeth! cookiecutter72 AT hotmail DOT com
These would come in handy for my squirmy worm!LOL! Thanks for the chance to win a set!
sblilly14(@)yahoo(.)com
This would be great for my toddler who doesn't do such a great job when she brushes her teeth herself.
Those sound wonderful for my baby's chompers.
the_angel_forever at yahoo dot come
Cool. Please randomly select me!
What a good idea. I would love to try it with my child.
my grandson is getting old enough to use these. great idea.
These are awesome! It's tough to know whether or not your toddlers are getting their teeth clean.
I have a 13 month old that these would be great for!
4babybirds [at] gmail [dot] com.
what a wonderful idea.
My grandaughter screams bloody murder when her teeth are brushed, could definitely use this.
Very interesting, It's time for us to start wiing out baby son's teeth. So I am eager to try this option.
[email protected]
What a great product!
what a great idea - would love to try it
very neat product. Thanks for the chance.
Interesting product. Would be nice to try with my little one.
How interesting that my daughter and I were just today discussing her 7 months old 2 new teeth. I told her to make sure and brush them or wipe them off with a washcloth daily never knowing a product like this existed. These would be perfect for my Granddaughter!
Awesome! I would not have to keep dropping hints about dental care to my family members! Just hand them a box or 2 of these sweeties!
An intriguing product that would be cool to try out.
Please pick me!
Why is brushing teeth such a big deal to little people? anything would be worth a try. Thanks for the awesome contest!
Would Love for Grandchildren
great idea!
What a great idea.
This is a great idea!
Please, give me anything that will be easier than trying to get my daughter to brush her teeth.
shay
[email protected]
even though my daughters only 4 months I would really like to try to this
I'd love to try this. My 11 month old finally has a tooth!
Great for my grandson.
Sounds like something I'd like to try!
Those would be good for "brushing" away from home, too.
These are awesome!
dansan826 at yahoo dot com
Wow!!! Thank you for this contest!!! I really REALLY hope I win! :D
please email me at :
[email protected]
Very cool!
great idea! they will be great when my 5 month old gets some teeth
great idea - they would be good for traveling
[email protected]
Looks like a cool idea!! Thanks..
[email protected]
What a great concept!
I wanna win
I heard wonderful things about this product. Can't wait to try.
surely would like to check these out, never heard of it!
I haven't heard of these before, but they do sound great! Really sounds like a wonderful product.
what a neat idea
This is a really awesome idea to help with a challenging task...
This is a wonderful product.
Fantastic idea! Why do some kids hat to brush their teeth??
grayjones5 at yahoo dot com
What a great product.
Oh...teeth-brushing is a struggle! Add me!
Great idea!
Neat Product. Please enter me
dreamweaver21us(at)hotmail(.)com
Oh! I just received wird that my grandbaby is getting her two front teeth. Please add my name to the drawing pool for these!
Thank you! I would love to use these with my baby son.
[email protected]
I would love to try this!
i would love to try these...
Count me in!
bebemiqui82 (at) yahoo (dot) com
I have an infant who has been teething for a while now...just waiting on the teeth to pop out. I am so glad I read this post. I'll have to get me some of these!!
Count me in on this contest!
~melody~
[email protected]
this would be cool to try. My daughter is hot and cold when it comes to brushing teeth. I was talking to a good friend who is a dental specialist recently, who told me you should never force a child under 3 to floss (I was telling him I read an article that said you should floss your kids teeth as soon as they have 2 side by side!!). He said it's more important for the kid to not fear flossing than to floss the baby teeth (wait for their big teeth he said). Anyhow, thought I would pass along that tidbit....I was shocked an article reccomended flossing a toddlers teeth...are you kidding me? As if they would stand for that!! :)
As my daughter is getting her first teeth now, these would be wonderful.
always good stuff
This is a fantastic find! I hope I win but even if I don't - I'll definitely be trying this product out and spreading the word to friends. Thnks!
We love our Angel Brush: http://www.babyproofingplus.com/item2897.htm
But these look great, too!
great idea. and thanks for the contest. thanks.
Very cool.
This is such a cool prize and thank you for offering it
This is great. Thank you!
batgirl1 at bat-girl dot com
I just wanted to say I completely agree with the need for early care of gums and baby teeth! I hadn't ever seen studies on this, but my dentist would concur! I was adopted from Korea when I was seven months old, and have had to have several teeth pulled in my teenage years because my baby teeth and "first set" of permanent teeth were in bad shape due to malnutrition and poor cleaning in my first 7 months. Good thing I had another set of permanent teeth come in!
Where do you find these things? Could definitely come in handy for the baby and possibly also my less-than-stellar brushing daughter...
I would love this for my granddaughter who I raise most of the time
Eek Connor is 8 months old and I can say I have never brushed his teeth.. (he doesnt even have any...) I'm starting to wonder if he ever will!
LOL
I blogged you too
http://www.prizeatron.com
Looks awesome! We could so use these.
wow. i wish i knew about these when my oldest was a toddler.
Yikes. I didn't know I was supposed to be doing this!
Boy could we use these!!!
I've never heard of these before, but they sound like a life-saver, er, teeth-saver. My 9-month-old has seven now, but just chomps down any time I try to get the toothbrush in her mouth. Maybe I'd have more luck with a wipe.
oh, I would really like to have these! I would love to try it out with Maddie!
Thanks for another great contest, Stephanie!
oh! This would be so handy to have when my little one finally gets that first tooth through!
Thanks
[email protected]
These sound great! [email protected]
i would love to try these for ella as she is bad about brushing her teeth!! thanks
My daughter becomes a screaming banshee when I try to brush her teeth, maybe she would like these better.
I've also read that gum-brushing is important before teeth erupt. Teething pain can be caused by bacteria and brushing will get rid of this and help limit night waking from tooth pain. I'd love to give these a try!
normanfam at gmail dot com
I have a 2 year old and brushing his teeth is like wrestling an alligator. I'm willing to try just about anything!!!
great idea- please enter me!
Great idea! Count us in! Thanks!
very cool...count me in!!
would love to win this for my wiggle-bot at home.
These would be great for my 6 month old! She already has four teeth!!! And two more about to pop through!!!!
[email protected]
how neat!
I have a toddler that needs wrangling when it comes to teeth brushing time - these would be great to try! sj1026 at gmail dot com.
These looks great!
What a neat idea!! ( meg dot wilson at gmail dot com )
I've never heard of anything like this! Would love to try them out with Eve, she hates the tooth brush, but loves it when I take a washcloth to her teeth.
These sounds great!
I love the idea of this product, but there is no way I would stick my finger in my toddler's mouth - LOL! She is at the age, however, where we can give her a Spin Brush and sing Raffi's toothbrush song, and she will do a good job. We let her take a turn first, and then she knows she has to let us have a turn, too. But I can see how these wipes would be great for parents who don't know they should clean little teeth. And they're gentle, too.
Don't enter me in the contest - I think someone else would find these more useful (although I definitely like it!!).
Joe loves the toothbrush-. I didnt know that it was after 1 to go to the dentist- always thought it was after 3. Good to know. Thanks for the chance!
Great idea! Grace loves the toothbrush - as long as I'm letting her lick it and it's not actually touching her teeth.
very interesting! i imagine they would be great for travel!
What a cool idea. I would love to try it with my daughter.
[email protected]
I'm having major toothbrushing problems with my 10-month-old. This would be great to try!
My son hates having his teeth brushed.
This would be a huge help.
These sound so cool! My toddler brushes her own teeth a lot as well. Sometimes she clamps her lips tight, and I just can't wedge the toothbrush in her mouth. I try to make it as much fun as possible. Oh boy, what an adventure sometimes! I do sing a little toothbrush ditty I made up while we brush. I read recently some kids love electric toothbrushes, so I picked up a bright Elmo electric. It is so cute, but it scares the pants off my toddler when it's on! She'll carry it around like a toy when off, though. I totally need to take her to the dentist--thank you for the reminder!!
Hello, What a super idea! I think not only would toddlers benefit, but what about a child wearing braces? Thanks for the contest! Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
How cool...thanks for a great giveaway!!
-Megan
[email protected]