Forming good habits is very important for kids to have good teeth for life, according to dental experts.

"If done before six years old, it is habit forming," revealed David Lee, dentist at the Beijing United Family Hospital.

Those include teeth brushing, good eating habits and regular dental checkups.

Teeth brushing should start as early as when the baby is six months old, when the teeth have just begun to grow. Parents can use gauze and special fingertip style toothpaste, which is available at specialized children's stores.

Parents should brush teeth for their children under two years old, and help children between two to nine years old to brush their teeth or use dental floss, until they can do it themselves. Teeth should be brushed at least twice a day after breakfast and before going to bed at night.

Some habits should be avoided. For example, some parents allow their children to sleep with a milk bottle or rubber nipple in their mouths. That can cause the teeth to bulge and eventually have to be taken out.

Some parents might think it is OK for kids not to have good teeth before six years old, because they will have a transfer from baby teeth to permanent teeth during six-12 years old anyway. Lee met a kid whose teeth had to be taken out at four years old.

"First of all, the baby will not have teeth for two years," he explained. "Then, without the old teeth, new teeth do not know where to come out."

Teeth are important in the development of babies' face, head, speech and even intelligence, according to Zhang Zhensheng, dentist at King's Dental.

Some other bad habits include nibbling nails, licking the lip and sleeping while using the mouth to breathe.

Good diet is another important point. Of course, the dentists suggest not eating too much sugar, candies or chocolate. But no sugar at all is almost impossible. Just make sure your children brush their teeth well afterwards.

Zhang also suggested that a balanced diet should include cereals, other foods containing calcium and phosphates. Such foods include corn powder, vegetables including celery, spinach, cabbage and fruits such as apple.

Lee said that he had tap water in Beijing tested and found that it does not contain as much fluoride as in the United States. Meanwhile in suburban areas, there might be too much fluoride in local water so that people develop yellow fluoride spots on their teeth.

If fluoride levels are low, Lee advises parents use toothpaste containing fluoride as compensation. If your dentist deems it necessary, children under six years old can take some fluoride tablets.

Another option is to apply tooth sealant to protect your children's teeth, especially for the 6-year molars, that are most likely to decay later on.

(China Daily 09/22/2005 page8)