Most parents are trying hard to maintain the health and beauty of their kid’s teeth. If the baby’s teeth have a slight color change or misalignment there starts the doubts and concerns. Am I following the correct way of brushing teeth for my baby? Which toothpaste should be bought? how to choose brushes? and how to make kids love brushing their teeth and there go the tooth stories……laughing lol…
Let me tell you… there is no need to fear about slight discoloration or misalignment, as this is just their milk teeth which is temporary and will be replaced by permanent teeth by 6 years. But we should pave a stepping stone of brushing now itself for better oral hygiene for them.
So let us first look at step by step brushing process:
Now comes the most awaited 7 tricks to make brushing teeth fun for kids!
1. Brush with them
Children loves to imitate adults so do the brushing together. Encourage them to brush by smiling while you brush and thereby show them how much you enjoy it. If possible, get the entire family to do it together. If he sees everyone doing it, believe me he’ll want to brush too
2. His Favorite Toothbrush.
An old fashioned plain toothbrush won’t excite the kid to brush his teeth, but his favorite cartoon character designed toothbrush picked by himself may just get him on the habit of brushing teeth
3.Right toothpaste selection
Flavored toothpastes like strawberry, orange etc. will make brushing a more pleasant experience for children, than the common mint variety. Experiment which is your child’s favorite flavor but make sure it has fluoride. Use only a pea sized amount of paste.
If your child is unable to spit and a small amount of toothpaste has been swallowed, don’t worry much about it(as it is will not harm them to a great extent). But try to encourage him to spit by showing him show to spit and train him to spit water initially. You can make it an activity or game that his spit should reach certain toy kept little far apart, then it will excite him and he will try to make it out. Same way you can also make his favorite toy, brush and spit along with him as a friendly competition.
4.Sing a rhyme and set a timer
Each brushing should last at least two minutes. Take an hourglass to help your child see how long he has to brush his teeth.
Sing a rhyme that they like the most or sing brushing rhymes like
“This is the way we brush our teeth,
we brush our teeth… we brush our teeth….
This is the way we brush our teeth…We do it every morning”
Or
“Brush brush brush…. brush your teeth… every morning …every night” etc..
5.Stick to the routine.
Set the brushing activity into her morning and bedtime routine. Don’t think that skipping one or two days in between will make no difference, because children will notice it and will have tendency to skip as well.
Moreover once the routine is set and your kid is fully familiarized to it, brushing everyday becomes easier and they will start reminding us about it.
6.Brush in front of a mirror.
Children enjoy seeing their reflection and that will help them engage in their brushing task
It could be little difficult for children to see themselves in the bathroom sink mirror as they may be too short, in that case you can put a stool or arrange a small mirror for them to brush
7.No threatening please..
Mostly Children are threatened that “if they don’t brush, they’ll have to see the dentist”. This actually negatively impacts the child as he thinks dentist as a monster that they will start to fear him and hesitates to go and meet him even in an emergency
Important: All baby teeth typically come by three years. Cleaning teeth can be started as soon as they peek out.
Under 18 months, toothpaste and tooth brush usage is not advised, so its better to just use a clean, cotton cloth or dental wipes to clean baby gums, front and back of each tooth. You can also use silicon finger brush which is soft and delicate.
From 18 months to 6 years, use a pea-sized amount of low-fluoride toothpaste.
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