Taking care of your teeth is one of the most important things that you can do. People tend to underestimate the importance of a beautiful smile and why they should practice good dental hygiene at home. Proper care for teeth and gums can not only give and maintain a beautiful smile but it can generally increase your quality of life by avoiding gum disease, tooth decay, oral cancer and other problems. Creating habits for good oral health begins when we are very little. If you have children then you need to start teaching them to take care of their teeth from a very young age. Toddlers in particular can be difficult to engage in anything for very long, much less something that they don’t want to do. Here are a few tips for getting your kids to take care of their beautiful smiles.
There’s an app for that
Literally, there’s an app for everything. If you look in your market place or App Store then you will be bound to find a toddler teeth brushing app to help you. There are some that make a game out of brushing, there are some that keep time to make sure that the child is brushing for long enough and there are some that simply keep the toddlers attention for long enough so you can brush their teeth for them. However, that last app should only be a last resort. Children should be learning how to take care of their own teeth so that they can continue to do so as they get older.
You be the dentist
Children love to role-play so you could engage the child by taking turns pretending to be the dentist and brushing each other’s teeth or your own. If you can do this for long enough then not only will your child’s teeth get brushed but you will be able to show them how to properly do it to make sure that all the plaque is removed. Even when it’s not time to brush teeth, it’s a good idea to inches the children in playing dentist with their dolls or stuffed toys. Toothbrushes and floss can be found at the dollar store so that they can pretend to be a dentist. If you play with them as the dentist assistant, you can inform the toys of the dangers of not brushing your teeth. Your child will be listening even if you think they are not.
Show them the gross stuff
If you think your child is old enough to handle it, there are videos online of what happens when you do not brush your teeth. Once they see what could potentially happen inside their mouths if they do not brush their teeth, it may scare them into doing so. Show videos of gum disease or tooth decay as well as close-up pictures of what plaque and bacteria looks like. Another idea is to let food sit out for a few days so your children can see and smell how bad it is. Once they “ew” and “gross” you can explain to them that the same thing happens to the food that is left in their teeth if they do not brush.
Make it a game
Toddlers like to have fun. They like to play pretend, run around, laugh and play games. They are just getting to the age where they are starting to understand what jokes are. It is a very fun age but it can also be very difficult. It is been found that if you can make something into a game it will be much better received by a child. This includes oral hygiene. Doing things like challenging the child to brush in a circular motion with one hand and pat their head at the same time with the other hand will make brushing their teeth fun as well as work on their coordination as they get their teeth cleaned. You can figure out different kinds of games that involve brushing and flossing that will be interesting to your child.
Whatever it takes to get the teeth clean is what needs to be done. It’s not just about having a beautiful smile but it’s about bacteria, breath, gum health and even organ health.
