Tips For Maintaining Your Children’s Dental Hygiene
Managing your dental care is challenging enough, but when we have the responsibility of making sure our children have sufficient dental care, concerns can begin to arise. Knowing how to guide our children through dental hygiene is not common knowledge, but knowing how to do things right can avoid any emergency trips to the dentist.
The care of our teeth during our adolescence is imperative for our health once we reach adulthood. If a dental hygiene routine is not embedded into our children from a young age, you might see dental damage such as cavities and even gum disease.
Start to teach your children the importance of their dental hygiene today, and consider our following tips:
What Age Should Children Start Brushing?
Children will first start growing their baby teeth between the ages of 4 to 7 months, and we would expect them to have grown all 20 teeth by the age of 3. As soon as your baby grows their first teeth, it is recommended that you start cleaning with a baby-specific, soft toothbrush and only use water. Once your baby has grown around 7 of their teeth, you should start including baby-specific toothpaste on the brush, a minimal amount. Your child should be kept in this routine of brushing from a young age, and eventually, you should trust them to brush their teeth twice a day from the age of 4.
How To Encourage Teeth Cleaning
Getting stubborn children to brush their teeth can feel like an impossible task, especially when there are tantrums involved. We need to make the act of brushing teeth as appealing to our children as possible. This can be done using several methods:
- Keeping our children in the room with you when you are brushing your teeth is a good method, as our children typically replicate the behaviours of their parents.
- You might allow your child to choose their toothbrush. This might feature their favourite animated characters.
- To get your children in the habit of brushing their teeth for two minutes, you might play their favourite songs and time them.
- You can find educational and interactive videos and games for your children to get involved with to encourage them to brush their teeth
Your Choice Of Toothpaste
As mentioned, as babies we should only be brushing our children’s teeth with a soft-bristled baby toothbrush and water. Once your child has several teeth, you should begin looking for toothpaste that is not too sensitive for their mouth. There is plenty of toothpaste available for children based on flavours and fluoride quantities. Toothpaste should contain fluoride as they play an important role in presenting cavities, however, too much fluoride can lead to stains on their teeth. Find an appropriate toothpaste that is recommended for their age group, and make sure you are frequently checking the ingredients in your chosen toothpaste.
The Effects Of Their Diets
An important part of maintaining our children’s dental hygiene is making sure that they are consuming a healthy diet. Children who eat large quantities of refined sugars and other sweetened foods will expect to be at high risk for things such as cavities and also gum disease. Limiting our children’s sugar intake is not only important for the health of their enamel but also for their overall health as they are still growing. Children deserve treats now and then, but we should still make sure that their teeth are effectively cleaned after any excessive amounts of sugary foods.
Dentist Anxiety
It is very normal for children to be scared of the dentist. It is a new and intimidating experience for children, therefore we should aim to make the experience as comfortable as possible. Make sure you have your child registered at a child-friendly dentist, or seek recommendations from friends who have their kids registered at a great dentist. A good dentist in Leamington Spa will speak to your child and take their mind off the idea that they are being checked. Do something calm and relaxing with your child before they visit the dentist to calm their nerves, and promise them a fun activity after the dentist if they agree to visit.
Quick Tips:
Flossing – You should be encouraging your children to be flossing from a young age to embed the habit. Floss can be a dangerous choking risk for adolescents, so make sure that they are an appropriate age or that you assist them with flossing before you trust them alone.
Change Their Toothbrush – Make sure that you are changing your toothbrush at least every 3 months. Toothbrushes can build up a lot of bacteria, so make sure that you are changing your children’s toothbrushes often.
Final Thoughts
Overall, we should make sure that our children are keeping up an effective dental hygiene routine. Start to incorporate the suggested tips, and also do more research on Health Write For Us for further information.
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