If you are that parent who chases children all around your home, begging them to brush their teeth, you are not alone. Kids not brushing their teeth is a common problem. There will be tears and resistance and explaining the importance of proper dental care just won’t be enough for children to stop their fun and games and take care of their teeth. You will have to change your strategy a bit and it will bring playfulness and joy to brushing. Consult with a dentist as if you wish and if you happen to be in Ashburn, you may give a try at Ashburn, VA dentist.
Is it important to start at an early age?
If you think those baby teeth will all fall out anyway so having several cavities in early years is not such a big deal, you are very wrong. Plenty of brushing is necessary from the earliest age. Cavities are, regardless if in baby teeth or adult one, are painful and very costly. Also, cavities will have a long term effect on your children well-being and oral health. Baby teeth should remain healthy until the change, as they are holding spots for healthy adult teeth. Unhealthy baby teeth mean unhealthy adult teeth. Best way to make brushing a life lasting habit is to turn it into fun.
Dance and brush
Brushing teeth takes at least two minutes if you want to do it right. Let’s try to make that time pass quicker. Make it fun too. Download one of many tooth brushing applications. They will play two minutes songs that your child will love to listen to and it will make time pass much faster. Their songs are mostly high paced and will probably make your kid dance to it too. Some apps will even have ‘Baby Shark’ on the playlist and I bet it will be impossible to get it out of your head afterward.
Do it together
Children love to imitate their parents. If your kid sees you brush your teeth and actually enjoying it, they will very likely copy and do it too. The best way is to brush it together. You can show your kid good technique and the proper way to brush. It will be great bonding time and lot of fun for both.
Play the game “Guess The Song”
Another great way to have fun while brushing your teeth. Start by brushing your own teeth and at the same time, sing a song or hum it. Your Kid then has to guess which song it was. After that, you swap the roles and they sing while they brush and you guess it. Faster then you can imagine, required two minutes will pass and you will be sure your child brushed their teeth thoroughly, being distracted by the game at the same time. And will have a lot of fun.
Let them pick the right toothpaste
There are a lot of different flavors of kids toothpaste out there. Some kids just hate the taste of mint and they might hate brushing their teeth because of it. It is worth to try other flavors as it may bring excitement in daily tooth brushing experience. Also, very often a picture of their favorite cartoon heroes on toothpaste may inspire them to use tooth past more often and actually enjoy it.
Let your kid choose a special toothbrush
Forget about regular boring one color toothbrush for your loved one. There are a great variety of toothbrushes you can buy that your kid will love. It can be simple manual brush but with their favorite cartoon hero, the funny looking animal shaped brush of brush that lights up and flashes for two minutes while your kid brushes. Let your kid choose it, maybe Hello Kitty or Spiderman. It won’t be only a toothbrush for them, it may become one of their favorite brushing toys.
Let them Practice on You
Some children just don’t like letting others brush their teeth. It may be a problem since until kids are a bit older, it is required for adults to brush their teeth to make sure it is done properly. Luckily there is a way to overcome this issue. Make a game ”You brush mine, I’ll brush yours”. In this game, your kid will brush your teeth but once they are done, they will let you brush theirs too. You may let them practice tooth brushing on their favorite soft toy or a doll as them to explain the importance of good dental hygiene. Once they master brushing their toys, they may brush a bit of their own.
Ask you Doggy for help
If the dog is part of your family it is a perfect opportunity to use him as an example and explain why brushing teeth is so important. Let your kid help you brush your doggy’s white teeth while you explain the importance of it. How fresh and clean his mouth will and how it will keep him healthy. You can even buy a toothbrush for dog and toothpaste with meat flavor for you furry assistant.
Reward with Stickers
Let’s be honest here, tooth brushing can be a tedious job to do. Use reward chart as a fantastic motivation to get through brushing. There is no better motivation than a reward for a job well done, and a shiny sticker will do the trick. Once they collect a specific number of stickers, they can turn it into the small price, agreed earlier. It will motivate them and at the same time reward their toothbrushing efforts.
Books are kids good friends
Most kids love reading. Try introducing books that have stories and messages about how important dental hygiene is. It may work wonders and should encourage your child to reach for their toothbrush and enjoy while brushing.
Little help from the tooth fairy
You don’t have to wait for adult teeth to emerge in order to call Tooth Fairy to your home. Be a bit creative and get her on your side from an early age and use her to encourage your little one to brush her/his teeth. It takes only a small fairy letter left on the pillow with a story to praise your child’s great effort. Let it encourage your kid to keep up with great work. It may bring a bit of magic to brush time.
