instill good oral health habits in your child. So read on for our recommendations on how to help your little one learn how good oral health starts at home!
- Remember the best way for them to learn is to lead by example.
- Despite what your child says they need help brushing. You should be helping brush and checking your child’s brushing until they are at least 9 years old. Most kids do not have the manual dexterity to be efficient brushers until they are older. An electric tooth brush can help with a lot of the plaque removal but you should still be checking their teeth and doing a quick brush up of their back teeth as well.
- Get your child a toothbrush timer! Or an electric toothbrush with a timer built in. Even as an adult its hard to judge 2-3 minutes without some sort of timer.
- Once your child starts to get their adult teeth in you should introduce child flossers. I believe that flossing with children should be done by the child. Flossers get the child used to adding flossing to their daily routine and as they grow and develop better manual dexterity they can replace the flossers with regular floss.
- There are a myriad of dental products that are geared to every age group, in a variety of flavors and textures. Find which is your child’s favorite so the taste is not a deterrent.
- And lastly, DO NOT use going to the dentist as a threat, i.e.: ‘if you don’t brush your teeth then you are going to have to go to the dentist’. You want to avoid attaching negative feelings towards going to the dentist or their home care regimen. Also, its hard as a dentist to start a child’s first dental visit with them already hating being there without ever having been. Instead focus on the positives, for example: ‘If you want to have happy, healthy teeth you have to brush them’
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