K = chewing surfaces (Kauflächen)
The chewing surfaces are cleaned with horizontal back-and-forth movements of the brush.
Dental knowledge: brushing milk teeth
A brushing technique for milk teeth following the KAI method.
Even the very first milk tooth should be cleaned carefully – with a soft brush or a cotton bud and a small amount of toothpaste. Brushing twice a day is recommended, using a children's toothbrush with soft, multi-tufted and rounded bristles and a children's toothpaste containing around 500 ppm of fluoride.
Fluoride helps minerals to be redeposited in the enamel and increases the teeth's resistance to the metabolic products of the bacteria in plaque. Your dental practice will advise what is right for your child.
Brushing incorrectly can damage teeth and gums, so a systematic method matters. The KAI method has proved its worth: children learn it easily and it produces a good result.
The KAI method
- K for chewing surfaces: cleaned with horizontal back-and-forth movements.
- A for outer surfaces: cleaned with small circular movements.
- I for inner surfaces: brushed with small circles from the gum towards the tooth – from red to white.
Learning to brush
From the very first milk tooth
Even the first milk tooth should be cleaned carefully with a soft brush or a cotton bud and a small amount of toothpaste. Milk teeth should be cleaned twice a day or more with a special children's toothbrush with soft, multi-tufted, rounded bristles and a children's toothpaste containing about 500 ppm fluoride. Your dental practice will tell you everything important about the particular properties of fluorides. Fluoride strengthens the redeposition of minerals in the enamel and helps prevent caries, increasing the teeth's resistance to attack by the metabolic products of the bacteria in plaque.
Incorrect brushing can damage teeth and gums, so using a systematic cleaning method matters. Among the techniques recommended is the KAI method, which children learn easily and which promises a good cleaning result.
A rule of thumb
KAI – the order of brushing
Three steps, always in the same order – that way no surface is forgotten.
A = outer surfaces (Außenflächen)
The outer surfaces of the teeth are cleaned with small circular movements of the brush.
I = inner surfaces (Innenflächen)
The inner surfaces are brushed from the gum towards the tooth with small circular movements. The brush is guided from the gum towards the tooth – from red to white.
The key points at a glance
- Even the first milk tooth should be cleaned – with a soft brush or a cotton bud and a little toothpaste.
- Twice a day is recommended, with a children's toothbrush and a toothpaste containing 1,000 ppm fluoride – a grain of rice up to the age of two, a pea thereafter.
- KAI serves as a rule of thumb for the order: chewing surfaces first, then outer surfaces, then inner surfaces.
Answered briefly
Frequently asked questions
From the first milk tooth. To begin with a soft brush or a cotton bud with a small amount of toothpaste is enough.
Twice a day, with a children's toothbrush and a toothpaste containing 1,000 ppm fluoride. Up to the second birthday a rice-grain-sized amount is enough, after that a pea-sized amount.
KAI is the German mnemonic for the order of brushing: first the chewing surfaces, then the outer surfaces, then the inner surfaces. That way no surface is forgotten.