Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Tips for Teaching Children to Care for their Teeth

You've heard the old adage "teach them while they are young".  Nothing is more true than this statement when it comes to oral hygiene.  Habits are taught  from a young age, and learning the correct and good habits yield positive results to last a lifetime!

We want your children to love taking care of their teeth.  When brushing and flossing are made part of their daily routine it will become second nature by the time they are adults.  A bad habit, once acquired, is very difficult to break!

There is a great article found on NannyPro.com, entitled 10 Tips for Teaching Kids to Care for their Teeth.  We think these tips are great and if implemented early, your dental costs will be greatly reduced overtime.  Think of it as an investment in your savings future.  We all know raising children is an expensive venture!

Here are the 10 Tips:

  1. Lead by example – Kids love to emulate their parents, so leading by example is a must. Let your children watch you brush and floss and explain to them what you’re doing and why. They’ll love to feel like they’re able to something just like the grown-ups do.
  2. Start early – Children won’t be able to brush their teeth by themselves until the ages of 3 or 4, so you’ll have to do it for them until then. This will give them time to get used to the idea that this is a part of a normal daily routine and they’ll look forward to when they can do it on their own.
  3. Make it fun – Try to make brushing and flossing a fun activity and something to look forward to instead of just a chore. You can invent little games to play and be excited about it when they do a good job.
  4. Rewards – Be sure to reward kids when they achieve goals like brushing by themselves for the first time or not having to be reminded. Give them an extra bedtime story or let them stay up another 15 minutes to prove how grown-up they are.
  5. Plaque monsters – You can invent stories to help explain what happens if they don’t take care of their teeth. Tell them that after they eat food invisible plaque monsters are hiding in their teeth and they need to be brushed and flossed away.
  6. Give them choices – Get children involved in the dental hygiene process by giving them choices. Let them pick out their own toothbrushes and toothpaste, and keep a variety on hand so they don’t get bored. Floss and mouthwash even come in different fun colors and flavors that they can choose from.
  7. Music – It can be difficult to get kids to brush long enough, so music can help. Play their favorite song and tell them to keep brushing until the music stops. Pretty soon they’ll be brushing and flossing to the rhythm of the beat.
  8. Egg trick – Children have a hard time grasping the concept of why it’s so important to care for their teeth. Explain how a hard boiled egg is like a tooth because the hard shell is like enamel. Place the egg in vinegar for 2 days and let them see how the shell has softened and explain that’s what happens to teeth with acid and bacteria in the mouth.
  9. Apple cavities – Another experiment that helps explain cavities can be done with an apple. Cut a small chunk out of an apple and tell the kids it’s just like a cavity in a tooth. Set the apple somewhere so they can observe what happens over time. This will give them a visual example of how cavities rot the teeth just like the apple.
  10. Start off right – Make sure kids learn how to brush and floss properly from the very beginning and correct them until they get it right. Muscle memory will keep them doing it correctly for a lifetime instead of having to relearn later and try to break bad habits.
Regular visits to the dentist will help to reinforce what you teach your children at home.  The kids are more likely to listen to the dentist and hygienist as authorities while they go over proper dental care techniques. These tips should help get your children off to a good start when it comes to caring for their teeth.

Dr. Clark and his team are great with children and can help get them excited about their dental successes during their regular visits.  Be consistent, be an example and don't give up!

Happy Brushing and Flossing!

Don't hesitate to give us call with any concerns about your child's dental needs. We are here to serve you!

Call us at (541) 451- 1440 or Text us at 541.6DC.DDS2
www.laserdennist.com

63 comments:

  1. Brushing alone is not enough to achieve good oral health. Flossing is important because it removes the food debris stuck in between your teeth that a brush can’t reach.

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  2. Parents should take their children to the dentist regularly, beginning with the eruption of the first tooth. Then, the dentist can recommend a specific program of brushing, flossing, and other treatments for parents to supervise and teach to their children.

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  3. Tips provided by you is quite useful. Sometimes children hardly take interest to brush their teeth. i m gonna try your useful tips with them. Also, i take them for dental checkup to my family dentist in North York.

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  5. Thank you for sharing this.I must say everyone has need to care of their teeth not only for child but for elders too.I have good experience with one pediatric dentist in North York.I will suggest you go for him if any emergency requirement for dental issues.

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  6. It’s actually a great and helpful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing
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  7. The tips are quite helpful to make our children brush regularly by adding some fun with it.

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  8. My mom used to make it fun by buying me cool toothbrushes. I had a superhero brush that I loved to use. It make me want to brush. http://www.2smileabout.com/treatment/dental-implants.aspx

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  9. I had never heard of the apple method before! What a great idea to help kids understand cavities. I think that when I was younger I didn't fully grasp that idea. I think that teaching your children with something visual like that will make a real impact on them. Kappenman Family Dental

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  10. Dental care at the age of infants is really very important to prevent any dental issues in future. Dental Hygienist North York will help to maintain their overall oral health and prevent any potential dental problems.

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  11. Nice tips for teaching kids about dental care. I use Spokane Valley Dentistfor my children's dental care.

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  12. This is written very well you are a very good writer this is the best article i am reading on the topic. I am agree with you. Hope you will Carry on writing in the same way. Thumbs Up!

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  13. It is very essential for children's to have a regular dental check ups so that their base of the tooth structure is strong enough.
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  14. This is great. Many kids don't want to brush their teeth and these tips are a big help on how make their child be responsible in brushing their teeth. And one important thing is find the best dentist for your child and that's what I found with a Dentist Makati Estetico

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  15. Most healthy smile means brushing well and often.Maintaining a healthy mouth by regularly brushing and flossing your teeth should be followed.
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  16. Most healthy smile means brushing well and often.Maintaining a healthy mouth by regularly brushing and flossing your teeth should be followed.
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  17. Healthy dental tips ie brushing & flossing must be followed by all of us not only the childrens.
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  18. Regular visits to the dentist will help to reinforce what you teach your children at home. The kids are more likely to listen to the dentist and hygienist as authorities while they go over proper dental care techniques.

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  19. Thanks for sharing this advice! I am actually in the middle of trying to figure out how to show my kids the importance of good tooth care. I'll be sure to try that egg trick. Hopefully the softened egg will be something that they remember. I just want to make sure they will take care of their teeth! http://www.owocdentalgroup.com

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  20. Parents must provide them option like choosing them tooth brush and tooth paste with various flavour which will gain their interest to use it every morning. Such habit can help to clean and keep mouth healthy. You can even ask our Oral Hygiene Dentist for more advice on how to prevent any potential dental issues.

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  21. One of the hardest things about being a parent in my opinion is teaching your children good dental habits. My kids both don't like to brush their teeth at night. I'll have to try rewards as you suggest. Maybe that will help them learn to like brushing at night. http://www.galleriadentalcentre.ca/en/products_and_services.html

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  22. Thank you for the great tips! My sister-in-law is trying to teach her children the importance of dental hygiene and hasn't been having much success. Your tip about giving them choices and letting them get involved sounds like a great idea. My niece and nephew love doing things themselves, so I'm sure if they got to choose their toothbrushes and toothpastes, they would enjoy brushing their teeth more! http://www.dorsetdental.com/

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  24. Absolutely noble cause to teach the childrens the importace of dental care. Great post!!
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  25. It should make sure to practice regular tooth brushing of our children at their early age.Weekend dental care service is very important. This is due to the fact that tooth problems and injuries can occur during weekends .




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  26. It should make sure to practice regular tooth brushing of our children at their early age.Weekend dental care service is very important. This is due to the fact that tooth problems and injuries can occur during weekends .


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  27. It should make sure to practice regular tooth brushing of our children at their early age.Weekend dental care service is very important. This is due to the fact that tooth problems and injuries can occur during weekends .

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  28. Thanks for sharing nice tips for children to get their teeth cleaned from themselves.

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  32. Brushing & Flossing
    Begin using toothpaste to brush your child's teeth when he (or she) is 2 years old. Be careful to use only a small dab of toothpaste (about the size of a grain of rice). Young children tend to swallow toothpaste when brushing, rather than spitting it out. Introduce fluoride toothpaste when your child is old enough not to swallow it. As soon as two teeth touch each other, floss between them once a day. You can use regular floss or special plastic floss holders.

    At some point, your child will want to brush his or her own teeth. It's fine to give him a turn. But afterwards, you should always brush your child's teeth a second time. Most children won't be able to brush their teeth well on their own until they are about 8 years old. Dental Visit: The idea of such early dental visits is still surprising to many new parents. However, national studies have shown that preschool-aged children are getting more cavities.

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  34. My kids are old enough that they should be able to take care of their oral health without parental supervision, but it's been tough making sure that they're brushing and flossing every day. Your tip to give them choices about what toothbrush and toothpaste they use seems like the thing they need to take better care of their teeth. If making them feel involved in picking out what they use to clean their teeth, then I should allow them to choose what type of toothbrush and toothpaste they use from now on. It's good to know that mouthwash comes in a lot of different fun colors, so that could help make them feel more motivated to clean their teeth every day.
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  35. I love your first tip to lead by example when teaching kids to care for their kids. Just like you should show them how important it is to brush and floss teeth, I think it is also important that they sometimes see you go to the dentist. Even better, it might be a good idea to bring them to the dentist at the same time as you, so they feel like they're following your footsteps. http://www.pldduluth.com/

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  36. Have them brush their teeth in the morning and after their last meal or drink at night. Brushing their teeth should be the very last thing they do before going to bed.


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  38. Thanks for the tip. I learned additional info because of this article. I also read the article similar to this at Orthofill's facebook page but because of this I learned more. Thanks! :) #howtofixteethgap

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  39. This is wonderful advice on how to teach our children how to properly clean their teeth. Thanks for the share.
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  40. I really encourage everyone to bring their kids to a dentist. there is nothing far more important than knowing that our kids are fine and at the same time getting the proper medical attention that they need.
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  43. We must implement a good way of teaching younger once to really know how important our teeth are.

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  47. Great share. One of the tips to keep your children's teeth white and shining is to have a regular dental check up. I also used to follow Dentzz review page for daily updates and info on all the queries related to dental treatment.

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  48. Informative share. It's always better to prevent disease than to cure and when it comes to dental care, regular visit with the dentist is the best way to prevent dental disease. There are various dental clinics which has regular dental check up campaigns. If you want to visit one, then best way is to visit dental care review websites like, Dentzz Dental care review

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  50. Great share. Its very important for children to visit dental clinic for routine checkups. It is something that normally children are not aware of and that created problem when they growup. As said, prevention is better than cure. I visit Dentzz dental now a days and I make sure that my children are there with me during the visit.

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  52. Great share. Dental treatment is very important and we start caring about it once we start getting problems. I recently visited Dentzz dental clinic in India, after watching dentzz review online. I had a casual talk with dentist and he said now a days they are educating parents to have a routine checkup for their children. Because most of our dental problems start from childhood and we often ignore them and end up suffering now.

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  54. If your children to take of care of the teeth on carefully. If you take any food after that brushing with flossing on daily routine cleaning teeth.

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  55. ya your sayings told me about the kids dental tips which are very helpful to know about the facts.

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  56. Good tips. every children can use that funny tips which is most useful to the children to avoid the tooth cavities and gets the strong teeth.

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  57. Use fluoridated toothpaste. Fluoride helps to harden tooth enamel and reduces your risk of decay.

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  58. Blessings!

    Thank you! These tips of dental care for children are very useful.

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  59. These kind of valuable tips should need to know by every children to take of their teeth. Keep sharing like this informative blog.

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  61. All dentists should also work with parents to pinpoint proper strategy based on the age and development of their child. For example, while the dentist-recommended brushing time is two minutes, twice daily with fluoride toothpaste, children must work up to that. from http://www.southairdriesmiles.com/childrens-dentistry/ childrens dentistry.

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