Brushing your kids teeth is really important. The best thing to do is to start brushing your babys’ teeth as soon as they start to come through. As they get older let them watch you brush your own teeth and get them to do have a go a doing theirs while you brush yours. Try to make it fun! Kids will mimic their parents behaviours, so if they see you do it they are more likely to do it themsleves. Unfortunately my daughter refused to mimic this particular habit even though she saw me do it every day!
I have a two year old daughter and let me tell you brushing time is a real challenge! Some kids love doing it, others don’t. My daughter fell into the later category. We tried a number of different techiniques. Sometimes she liked having an elecrtic toothbrush in her mouth othertimes she would only let me use a manual toothbrush, and sometimes she just plain refused. However no matter how hard it was I still persisted. It’s still a struggle sometimes especially when it’s her bedtime and she is feeling cranky. Now I make up songs as I brush her teeth to make it fun for her. Try adapting a nursery rhyme to do with brushing teeth.
Make sure you use a small headed toothbrush and only use kids toothpaste as appropriate for the age. I make sure the paste has fluoride in and only use a smear of it on the brush as toddlers tend to swallow the toothpaste. Never let babies go to bed with a bottle of milk as this can cause what’s called bottle caries. Try the techniques above, but always persevere as preventative techinques to dental decay are always best.
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by Dental DesignSite last updated: September 2024
