Cleaning teeth can often be difficult, particularly if it isn’t already cemented into your children’s morning and night routine. However, from both our personal experience and sharing some of the secrets of our patients we have a few tips that may be of help.
• Make cleaning fun! This can be done by introducing a star chart where if your child lets you brush their teeth or does it themselves they can get a star. Click here to download our star chart.
• Investing in an electric toothbrush is often a great idea for kids for two reasons. Not only does it clean better than a manual toothbrush, particularly when they are still learning the technique, but it also makes it a little more exciting!
• Buy a fun egg timer to measure whether they are cleaning their teeth at the correct time. Another great way of doing this can be to find a song they like and for the two minutes it is playing they have to brush their teeth.
• For Babies: It is important to wipe your baby’s gums with a soft cloth after their milk feeds. This is because milk contains a sugary substance which can result in tooth decay of their teeth are exposed to it for an extended time. It is not recommended to put your baby to sleep by sucking on a milk bottle.
Ideally, we recommend brushing your children’s teeth twice daily. However, if the battle with the toothbrush is just too hard, the optimum time of day is at night time, before bed. It is also important to use toothpaste with low fluoride content and only place a pea-sized amount on the brush. Also, even if the toothpaste is yummy, it is important to spit it out!
Make an appointment for your child to visit our friendly hygienist for a clean and fluoride treatment and she will give your child the correct brushing techniques right from the start and help you to motivate them!
