When should I start cleaning my baby's teeth?

You should start cleaning your baby's teeth as soon as that first pearly white sprouts (for most babies that's around 4 months). "At first, just use a piece of gauze moistened with water to wipe plaque from your baby's teeth and gums," says Howard Reinstein, a pediatrician in Encino, California, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. You don't need to use toothpaste, but try to clean your baby's teeth twice a day.

Once your baby has several teeth, you might try using a small toothbrush with just two or three rows of very soft bristles. Ask your pediatrician whether to use toothpaste, and what type of toothpaste. If you live in an area where the water is fluoridated, he might advise against using toothpaste that contains fluoride. If your water isn't fluoridated, he might prescribe fluoride drops or tablets and recommend fluoridated toothpaste. Either way you should know that fluoride can be toxic to children if ingested in large quantities. (Poison control centers around the country get thousands of toothpaste-related calls each year.)

To prevent problems, keep toothpaste out of your child's reach, and use only a half-pea-sized drop when brushing. Encourage your child to spit out the toothpaste rather than swallow it — a concept that's hard for very young children to understand.