Note: This blog post is a sponsored conversation written by Lynn Smythe, the Founder and Chief Blogger for The Creative Cottage lifestyle blog. The opinions, thoughts, ideas and text are all mine.
What is it about children, the toothbrush and a fear of looking after their teeth? At some stage all children have this need to not brush their teeth and clean them. As adults now, we can look back and wonder why we did that. Clean teeth is actually a good thing, why would we have not wanted to do it? Sometimes the actual process of cleaning teeth can feel like a chore to children. Good dental hygiene is just another thing they are told they have to do – here’s how to encourage your children to have good dental health and hygiene.
It is something that can be a constant nag for parents and children alike. But as a parent, you will also want to install good habits within the family, and dental hygiene each can be one of the areas that you can do this naturally without there being too much thought. However, it can be much easier to encourage your children, and even the whole family to take better care of their teeth if you know what to do. With that in mind, here are some of the tips and tricks you could try.
Importance of Dental Care
Talking to your children about dental care is important from an early age, and children learn by example and what you do. Making them aware of the dangers that not brushing their teeth could mean for their dental hygiene is important. It helps them to understand the importance of avoiding getting things like tooth decay and having issues with their teeth in the future.
Just opening up the conversation about it can be a start, or when children refuse to do it simply ask them why? The response may surprise you or even give you something to work with. They may not like their toothbrush, they may find part of it hard. Most of the reasons could be easily resolved.
Regular Check Ups
Never instill fear into your children in terms of visits to the dentist. Instead try and make it a fun experience. Research potential dentists, look at info on their website that can help you to make a decision and look to ensure you find a place that caters to young children so that they make it a pleasant experience.
Dentists that specialize in kids and family dentistry will help make the experience much easier, and instead of fearing it, your children will learn to enjoy their regular checkups. It can be difficult if you have never had a good experience with the dentist yourself, but you do want to ensure that you can make the experience a more consistent thing with your family. Which may mean you getting over your own fear.
Let Children Choose Toothbrush
It may sound simple, but sometimes children can deter from doing something for the littlest and pettiest of reasons, and a choice of toothbrush might actually be it. Letting them choose their own brush could encourage them to want to use it when the time comes. It might be that they have a special character on them, or it is their favorite color. But psychologically they have chosen it, and made a decision to commit, so it could make teeth brushing times easier, especially with younger children.
Teach Them Technique
Children learn from the examples you set and what you do, so it is important for you to show them and lead by example. Teaching them the right technique is key for them developing the right way to brush their own teeth in the future. It may be as simple as doing it together, where they copy your actions and how you do things.
Seeing you do something may encourage them to do it themselves, again this tends to work with younger children, so starting off young is key to encouraging good dental hygiene as they get older. You will also want to encourage them to do it for the right length of time. Children can easily brush all around their mouth and think they are done, rather than thinking that they need to keep it up for a certain amount of time.
Encourage Learning
Just as you want them to copy you and learn different techniques, you also want to encourage them to develop their own style and technique of brushing their teeth. If you think about it, there is a general consensus of what needs to be done when you brush your teeth, but none of us will really do it in exactly the same way. Let them develop their own style, as long as you can be sure they are brushing them thoroughly, and for a good amount of time, it will help them to develop their own habits.
Smartphone Applications as Distraction
A smartphone application is an excellent way of being a distraction and they work especially well to ensure that children brush their teeth for the recommended time necessary. You can download specific teeth brushing applications which have videos that are for the right amount of time. Some can even use specific characters that will entice your child to watch, so they are definitely worth looking into. If they are a little distracted, it could be the key to getting them to continue doing it.
Avoid a High Sugar Diet
Finally, you might want to think about avoiding a sugary diet, or if your child does eat something specifically sugary that you encourage them to brush their teeth straight after. Sugar will rot a child’s teeth, and cause other issues like tooth decay. It is a well-known fact that studies have shown that if a child can get to the age of nine without any tooth decay then they are less likely to need fillings and other dental work in the future. Sugary foods can cause this to happen, so being mindful of what they eat is essential. You may also be surprised at what foods can cause harm to your teeth, So a bit of research might be necessary.
Let’s hope that these tips help you to encourage your child to have good dental health and hygiene.
+ There are no comments
Add yours