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The time when babies get their first primary teeth(milk teeth) varies.A few are born with a tooth already through.Others have no teeth until they are one year old.Most get their first tooth around 6 months of age,usually the bottom.Most have  all their primary teeth by about twn and a half.The first permanent 'second' teeth come through at the back at around the age of six.There are 20 primary teeth in all,10 at the top and 10 at the bottom.

                                           Teething.

Some teeth come through with no trouble at all,At other times the gum is very sore and red where the tooth is coming,or that one cheek is flushed.Your baby may dribble,gnaw,and chew a lot,or just be fretful,but often hard to tell whether this is really due to teething.It can help if you give your baby something hard to chew on such as a bread stick,teething ring,crust of bread,peeled carrot.(STAY NEAR INCASE OF CHOKING).Avoid rusks because almost all contain some sugar,.Constant chewing and sucking on sugary things can cause tooth decay,even if your baby only has one or two teeth.

For babies over four months you can try and rub some sugar fee teething gel onto their gums.You can get this from a pharmacist,GP,or health visitor.People put all sorts down to teething-rashes,crying,bad temper,runny noses,extra dirty nappies.But be careful not to explain away what might be the signs of a illness by saying its 'just teething'.

• Keep down the number of times your child has something sugary.
• Brush your childs teeth twice a day thoroughly,using a pea sized ammount of flouride tooth paste or a tiny smear for babies,let a older child see you brush your teeth.
• Sugar causes tooth decay,Its not just the ammount of sugar in sweet foods and drinks that matters but perhaps more importantly how often there are sugary things in their mouths.this is why lollipops are so bad as the teeth are bathed in sugar for quite a long time.
• From the time you start your child on foods and drinks other than milk avoid sweet things,try to encourage savoury tastes.Watch for the sugar in baby foods in tins and packets(even the savoury varieties),and rusks in baby drinks,especially fizzy drinks,squash and syrups.
• If you do give your child sweet foods and fruit juice try to limit them to meal times to avoid tooth decay.Well diluted fruit juice containing vitamin C and given with a meal,in a cup,can also help iron to be absorbed.Between meals,it is better to give milk or water.
• Try to find treats other than biscuits or sweets,and ask relatives and friends to do the same.Use things like stickers,badges,hair slides,crayons,small books,ETC..these may be more expensive than one sweet,but they last longer.
• Iif children are giving chocolate or sweets,its less harmful fo their teeth if they eat them all at once and after a meal.
• Children who eat chocolate and sweets everyday have nearly double the decay compared with children who eat them less often.
• Aviod giving baby juices or sugar sweetened drinks at bedtime or in a bottle,and keep drinking times short.Only milk or water should be given as a drink during the night.(unless your baby is still young enough to need a night feed).
• Ask your pharmacist and doctor for sugar free-medicine for your child.
• Try to avoid giving drinks containing artificial sweeteners such as saccharin or aspartame,if you do,dilute with at least 10 parts water to one part concentrate.