February is National Children’s Dental Health Month.

This week I’ll extract the fact from the fiction when it comes to your child’s teeth. In doing so, I hope to help you fill your dental knowledge cavity.

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No teeth = no dentist?

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Many parents of infants do not think their babies need to see a dentist since they have no teeth.

In fact, as soon as the first tooth comes in — or by year one — a dental visit is recommended.

The appointment can pick up problems that can cause dental issues up the road and annual dental checkups should then follow.

Establishing a dental home for your child even by year one is as important as establishing a medical home for their pediatric health needs.

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Is sugar the culprit in causing cavities?

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Another common myth is that sugar directly causes cavities.

Not really! Sugar indirectly causes cavities by feeding the bacteria in your or your child’s mouth, allowing those bacteria to thrive and multiply, producing large amounts of acid that breaks down teeth and directly causing those cavities.

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Looking for cavities

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Parents ask me if cavities only form where you can see them.

This is not true.

Decay happens wherever leftover food particles, especially those that contain sugar, get stuck between and behind the teeth. This means that cavities may be present even if you can’t see them should you be looking inside your child’s mouth.

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Brushing versus flossing

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Which is more important?

In young children just getting their teeth, brushing is more important than flossing. In fact, brushing should start even before a baby starts teething by running a clean, damp washcloth daily over the gums. Then brushing can start with the onset of the first baby teeth.

Flossing, even at an early age once most of the baby teeth have appeared, is more effective than brushing at cleaning out food particles that get stuck between teeth.

So, flossing along with brushing twice a day can and should start during the toddler and preschool years and some think as soon as two teeth are next to each other.

Hopefully, tips like these will provide more than a mouthful of information when it comes to knowing the facts versus the fiction regarding how to ensure that your infant and young child’s teeth stay healthy.

Lewis First, MD, is Chief of Pediatrics at The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. You can also catch “First with Kids” weekly on WOKO 98.9FM and NBC5.