Make brushing fun!

With the children in the midst of their school summer holidays, the team at Valley Dental Practice look at the vital part a good oral hygiene routine plays in keeping teeth healthy from an early age.

In this month’s blog the team at Valley Dental Practice look at some of the common problems in achieving this and tips to ensure your children’s teeth stay in tip top condition.

Not brushing for two minutes.

Brushing for two minutes is a totally unknown length of time for many young children. A great way to ensure that they are brushing for the required length of time is to introduce a fun timer using their favourite song, an egg timer, or an electric toothbrush with a built-in timer. This way they get a clear idea of how long they need to be brushing their teeth for.

Not wanting to brush their teeth.

Making brushing fun is the best way to ensure you build an effective oral hygiene routine from an early age.

• Allow your children to pick their own toothbrush with a favourite cartoon character on it.
• Make a special toothbrush holder with stickers and coloured paper.
• Brush along to a favourite song.
• Fill in a brushing reward chart every day leading to a reward at the end of the month.
• Use one of the many toothbrushing apps to help make brushing more interesting.

Top tips for children’s teeth brushing

• Use a toothbrush recommended by your dental team and get your children to choose their favourite colours or characters.
• Use a suitable fluoride strength toothpaste for their age group:
  • Under three years old – 1000ppm
  • Over three years old – 1350-1500ppm
• Find a toothpaste that they like the flavour of to reduce toothbrushing battles.
• Children easily swallow toothpaste, so it is best to use a smear of toothpaste for babies and children up to three years of age, and a pea-sized blob for children aged three to six.
• Brush for two minutes, twice a day. This should be last thing at night and on one other occasion during the day – usually in the morning.
• Divide brushing into four sections in the mouth and brush each quadrant for 30 seconds – upper left, upper right, lower right, lower left.
• Brush in a circular motion and brush each surface of each tooth – tops and sides.
• Spit the toothpaste out after brushing but do not rinse. Rinsing washes away the protective fluoride
• Visit the dentist as soon as your child’s first tooth comes through and attend for regular appointments from then on

If you would like some more help and advice on ensuring your children’s teeth stay healthy, call Valley Dental Practice on 01255 220322 and book an appointment, all our team are highly experienced dealing with children and can ensure that any visit is fun and stress free!