Getting kids to brush their teeth is a difficult task.
Unfortunately, at such a young age, kids do not understand the importance of good oral health. In addition to this, brushing their teeth is a pretty boring task for children. When you couple these two things, children’s oral hygiene routines are usually disastrous and tooth decay begins developing.
Did you know that tooth decay is the most chronic disease amongst children?
Taking into consideration how common tooth decay is, and how bad children are at caring for their teeth, how can you do a better job ensuring your children are employing good hygiene habits?
Below, we offer some simple tips that parents can follow to increase the likelihood that their children are brushing as directed.
1. Brush with Your Child
Your child looks up to you in all aspects of life. If you brush with your child, get down on their level, and show them how it is done, they will be more likely to employ these habits as they age. Like almost anything in life, brushing your teeth is a habit. The time of day you brush, how long you brush, and the technique you brush with are all habitual.
2. Speaking of Habits…
It is critical to start brushing with your child as soon as their first tooth comes in (at this time, you will have to do the brushing for them). Getting your child acclimated to brushing twice per day for two minutes a time will help them to develop a good habit early on.
3. Give Your Child the Decision
No, don’t let your child determine if they brush or not. What you should allow your child to do, is make the decision about what kind of toothpaste and toothbrush they are using. If your child gets to make these decisions for themselves, they will take more pride in using them more often.
4. Play Their Favorite Song
If your child has a song that they absolutely love, play that song while they brush. Doing this will make your kids look forward to brushing their teeth and jamming out to their favorite tune. In addition to this, their favorite song will make brushing a little more fun and will hopefully mean they brush longer.
5. Use a Rewards System
Children love to be rewarded and told they are doing a good job. If you reward your children and compliment them for doing well with their brushing, it will inspire them to continue to do so.
Our team hopes that these tips can get your child brushing better. Happy brushing!
We Asked Dentists How to Get a Child to Brush and Floss Properly
Dental hygiene is clearly important, but, given how some adults don’t even take it seriously, it’s hardly surprising that getting children to understand this can be a real challenge.
Parents want their kids to be healthy, however, so we’ve been looking into suggestions that could help them get their children to not only to brush and floss but to do so properly (without over-brushing).
We’ve found a lot of ideas, including:
– Using plaque disclosing tablets to show them where plaque hides on their teeth
– Make brushing more exciting with an electric toothbrush
– Get them involved by letting them pick their own toothpaste
Ultimately, we thought it best to consult the experts. Here’s what they had to say:
“Parents should brush and floss their teeth at the same time as their children and they should set a timer for 2 min to brush. You would be surprised at how long 2 minutes of brushing really is.”
Robert A. Morabito, DDS – Falls Church, VA
“Making sure the proper length of time is spent on brushing. Using a timer is a very good way to ensure they brush for at least two minutes and do so for two times a day. Our office gives the children their own timer.”
Timothy P. Sulken, DDS – Fostoria, OH
It’s pretty clear that these dentists feel the most important thing is to be sure that your children are brushing for a full two minutes, twice a day, and both suggested using a timer to ensure this.
