Tips to Get Your Child to Care for their Teeth
Here are a few tips;
1. Brush together
Kids follow what their parents do more than what they say. The best way to make oral hygiene stick to your child’s head is to do it with them twice a day. Go to the bathroom with them every morning and every evening and brush your teeth and then floss together. You can play monkey see, monkey do or make jokes that you are attacking teeth monsters together.
The dentist’s office is scary no matter how well you decorate it. Let your kids go there and hear the sound of that drill as it goes on and on. The office of Laura Miller DDS has an amazing camera used to teach patients about oral hygiene. Let the dentist have a chat with your child as they get a checkup on what will happen if they don’t take care of their teeth.
One of the reasons why kids hate brushing time is because they associate it with going to sleep. You stop them from watching TV so they can go brush and sleep. Brushing and flossing should be something kids associate with fun times. Brush right after dinner and then have a lot of fun during and maybe an hour or two before bed time.
Kids love stories especially spooky ones. You can take the opportunity to tell them horrifying stories about not brushing their teeth when you are all in the bathroom brushing. Tell them about the sugar monsters that hide between their teeth and slowly eat them away until there is nothing left. There is nothing more powerful than a child’s imagination so use it wisely.
Kids oral care should be as appealing as possible. Go shopping with your child and buy a toothbrush with their favorite cartoon character. You should also get flavored baby toothpaste because it’s not as disgusting as adult toothpaste. Go a step further and even buy for them a brushing plastic glass with McQueen or Princess Sofia. Instead of thinking of brushing as a chore, it will seem more like playing with toys.