As the holiday season approaches and our eating of sweets increases, it is important for parents to ensure that their children have good oral health. What are you doing to encourage your children to keep good care of their teeth?
I wrote a blog a few years ago titled Make Certain That Your Children Receive Proper Oral Health Care from an Early Age , which cited to an online article stating that up to 40% of children may have tooth decay before they enter kindergarten. That is a surprising statistic!
In a recent article on the website www.healthychildren.org, more information is provided to help parents teach their children how to correctly brush their teeth and to make it a routine. Some recommendations are:
Start early - It is important to start a routine of brushing teeth, even if your children are young and don’t have any. Go through the motions. Have them join you when you are brushing your teeth.
Brush often – It is best to brush after every meal so if you start having your children brush frequently, they will develop that habit at an early age.
Sing songs – Make it fun for your children by singing songs and keep them engaged for 2 minutes as they brush their teeth.
Check it out – Be sure to monitor how they are brushing their teeth and check to make sure.
Appeal to taste – Have your children select their own toothbrushes and toothpaste, as long as the toothpaste has fluoride.
Hands off – When your children are ready to use their own brushes by themselves, let them but again be sure to check to ensure that they are brushing their teeth properly.
Go where no child has gone before – Be sure that they are getting the teeth that are located in the hard to see and reach areas of their mouths.
That website has many other excellent articles so please take the time to visit it and read the recommendations. It will be time well spent.
For more information, please visit: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/oral-health/Pages/let-the-brushing-games-begin.aspx