Comfortable Habits for Dental Hygiene in Kids

Teaching your child comfortable habits for dental hygiene is not merely challenging but can become practically impossible if your child is resistant to brushing. However, the pediatric dentist in Greeley has the expertise to keep your child’s teeth healthy besides guiding you as a parent or guardian in teaching your child comfortable dental hygiene habits they begin to love. Using suitable strategies, your child can develop intense home care routines to promote lifelong oral health.

This article focuses on subjects like when you should start brushing your child’s teeth, brushing and flossing children’s teeth, and tips to teach your child how to practice excellent dental hygiene.

Kindly continue reading to learn more on how you can help your child have a beautiful smile throughout their lives.

When to Start Brushing Your Child’s Teeth?

Good oral hygiene should begin from infancy, even before your child develops their first tooth. After feeding your baby, whether breastmilk or infant formula, wipe their gums with a soft washcloth. When using this technique, please do not assume you are teaching your child how to practice good oral hygiene. Instead, you establish a foundation that helps deal with your child efficiently when they get older.

When your child starts eating solid foods and develops their first tooth, you can use a finger brush made from rubber with soft bristles that fit your finger comfortably. Using the finger brush, gently fit on your index finger brush along the emerging tooth and your child’s gum line.

You must start brushing your choice tooth when it emerges at age one using the finger brush or a soft-bristled toothbrush and a tiny smear of fluoride toothpaste brushing their teeth twice a day.

By your child’s first birthday, a visit to the dental clinic in Greeley, CO, to meet the pediatric dentist helps your child build rapport with the professional and get accustomed to the views and sounds of the dental office. The dentist also ensures your child’s teeth and gums are healthy and partners with you in teaching your child good oral hygiene.

The Basics of Brushing and Flossing Your Child’s Teeth

After your child has a mouthful of pearly whites is time to move to a soft-bristled toothbrush explicitly created for children. You must use a child-sized soft-bristled toothbrush with tiny heads to ensure the toothbrush doesn’t cause any irritation in your child’s mouth.

Until age three, dentists recommend you use a smear-sized dab of fluoride toothpaste on the child’s toothbrush, after which you can increase to a pea-sized grain of toothpaste. Fluoride is essential for children because the naturally occurring mineral makes their teeth resistant to tooth decay by strengthening their enamel and incorporating itself into their permanent teeth to make them more resistant to tooth decay. However, exercise caution because too much fluoride has adverse effects and can cause fluorosis leaving your child’s teeth stained. Therefore do not exceed the levels of fluoride recommended and discuss your child’s fluoride intake with their dentist.

When teaching your child to brush, dentists recommend you do the brushing for them because children may not know how to hold the toothbrush correctly, and neither do they have the talent or motor skills to eliminate plaque effectively.

You can stand behind them when children brush their teeth and reach around to hold the toothbrushes comfortably. Please inquire with your child how it feels stopping to ensure their gums aren’t irritated. If your kid is resistant to brushing, have them sit on the bed or the floor line with the head in your lap. The position will give you more control when brushing your child’s teeth.

Children’s teeth need brushing twice a day. When your child’s teeth start touching, start flossing their teeth once daily. When brushing and flossing children’s teeth, narrate your actions to ensure your child starts to grasp the concept. At around age two or three, you can allow your child to brush their teeth by themselves and follow-up to make sure they haven’t missed any areas. The following up helps ensure children develop independence and learn proper techniques for brushing.

Tips for Teaching Your Child to Practice Excellent Dental Hygiene

Allow your child to brush their teeth by themselves, supervising them until they are seven or eight. Have them brush in the mirror to help them visualize what they are doing.

You can use a toothbrush timer to ensure they brush their teeth for the full two minutes recommended by dentists.

Join your kids when brushing to display how they can brush their teeth at the back of the mouth.

Explain what will happen if your child doesn’t brush their teeth well. Talk to children about the causes of tooth decay, cavities, and gum disease. Explain why it is best to avoid the conditions without scaring the child.

Kid-themed toothbrushes and tasty toothpaste can help your child get excited about dental hygiene. You must merely ensure the toothpaste contains fluoride for best results.

Teaching your child excellent dental hygiene habits without scheduling appointments with the pediatric dentist for dental routine exams and cleaning is a waste of time and effort. The professionals can detect issues in your child’s mouth early and provide treatments when the outcomes are better.

If you confront challenges teaching your child how to brush and floss, consider scheduling an appointment with ToothTown of Greeley to learn about teaching your child excellent dental hygiene habits.