The Biggest Problems With Your Child's Teeth Care, And How You Help
Proper dental hygiene is important from an early age. Unfortunately, children naturally love candy but hate brushing their teeth. Don't let keeping your child's teeth healthy become overwhelming; rather use the tips below to help work around the problems.
1 - Brushing teeth is a nightmare
Let's face it, almost no child begs to brush his or her teeth. Generally speaking, proper dental hygiene isn't exactly a bucket-of-fun, but neither should it be a nightmare.
If you're having a hard time getting your child to brush his or her teeth, try to approach the problem by breaking it down into smaller parts and using rewards, or, if you want to get all technical, positive reinforcement.
For example:
- You can reward your child with a sticker for using an appropriate amount of toothpaste
- Praise your child when he/she goes to the bathroom to brush his/her teeth without a fight.
- Use a timer to slowly build-up brushing time to the recommended 2 minutes. Maybe sing a song to help pass the time.
- Call grandparents to brag about good brushing habits in front of the child.
- Let your child work up to a trip to the toy store by brushing twice a day for a week or two.
Finally, let your child pick out his/her tooth brush. While they will focus on colors and cartoon characters more than the quality of the brush, just work on getting him/her used to proper brushing first. After the habit is established and the fights are gone, then switch over to a quality sonic toothbrush.
2 - Constant cavities
Children are notorious for harboring cavities, and at Tatum Pediatric Dentistry, we'd like to see that changed. If you're child is struggling to have a clean check-up, consider the following:
- Does your child brush AFTER his/her first meal in the morning? Brushing before breakfast can lead to bacteria sitting in his/her mouth too long; it can also lead to terrible tasting cereal.
- Likewise, your child should brush AFTER his/her last meal at night.
- Is your child eating too many sticky foods? Chewy foods like caramel, taffy, and even raisins can stick to teeth for hours afterwards, causing tooth decay. That's not to say that your child can never eat these foods; trust us on this, they will. Rather, just try to eat them right before a tooth brushing session.
- Is your child eating teeth-boosting foods? Dairy products, whole grains, and vegetables all promote healthy teeth, if used correctly. Grazing on anything can cause cavities.
- Is there too much hidden sugar in your child's diet? You should take a day to look at the food labels in your pantry. You may be shocked at how much sugar is in cereal, snacks, and even the bread you buy. All that sugar contributes to cavities.
- Is your child flossing once a day? Make it a game and pretend they are trying to scrub away bad guys from their teeth.
- Is your child using mouth wash? Using age appropriate mouth wash helps keep plaque causing bacteria at bay and strengthens teeth. Besides, most kids love to spit!
3 - My Child Hates Dental Visits
Unfortunately, due to past experiences or fear of the unknown, many children fear visiting the dentist. However, a dental office is full of really cool things; after all, where else do kids get to vacuum up their own spit? So, use these tips to help make the trip less traumatic:
- Play "dentist" at home just like how your child likes to play house.
- Take your child to the dentist with you. Seeing you go through the same teeth cleaning process teaches him/her that it's ok.
- Read books about trips to the dentist.
- Talk with your child about his/her fears.
- Don't be anxious yourself. Yeah, even we like dentist jokes, but children pick up on anxiety.
Finally, please, let our staff know if your child is nervous. We'll try to explain the procedures to help your child feel safe and comfortable.
