Let the Brushing Games Begin

Since it’s going to be quite a while before your child masters toothbrushing for herself, we wanted to leave you with several practical suggestions to help you make it more fun and a matter of routine.

• Start Early. No teeth? No problem. Simply going through the motions by regularly brushing and cleaning gums still serves a very useful purpose.
• Brush Often. While we’ve focused thus far on bedtime brushing, technically speaking, your goal of brushing teeth is to clean food off of them, and the sooner the better. Yet few adults we know make a regular habit of brushing their teeth throughout the day. Start having your child brush after meals early in life and you stand a fighting chance of creating a lasting habit.
• Sing, Sing a Song. Or set a timer. Or come up with some other creative way to keep your child engaged in the act of brushing her teeth for the recommended 2 minutes, or for at least as long as it takes to make sure that your combined efforts leave them clean. Some toothbrushes even light up or play music for the amount of time a child should keep brushing, preventing kids from being fooled into thinking that they’ve brushed long enough.
• Check It Out. If your child is showing signs of independence and insists on brushing on her own, then by all means let her. Just don’t forget to get in the habit of proudly “checking out” her work at the end of each session while casually doing some touch-ups of your own.
• Appeal to Taste. If Cinderella, the Cat in the Hat, a race car, or an electric toothbrush similar to yours has better prospects of winning your child over than you do, then by all means oblige. Feel free to indulge her tastes by letting her choose toothbrushes and toothpaste that she can really get excited about. There are also many flavored toothpastes that taste great and make it fun to brush. 
• Hands Off. Right around the age when you’re likely to start brushing, your child is likely to start grabbing. By giving her a soft-bristled brush (or 2) of her own to have and to hold, you will be able to avoid a fight over yours—leaving you well equipped to get the job done. Sure, it may take 3 toothbrushes instead of 1, but it’s a small price to pay for a routine that really works.
• Go Where No Child Has Gone Before. We suggest you pay particular heed (and direct your child’s attention) to those teeth that are most likely to be neglected. While you’re helping her brush, describe what you’re doing in terms she can relate to by pointing out her “biting” teeth (the chewing surfaces), her “smile teeth” (you guessed it—right in the front), and the tricky teeth in the back. Your goal— to teach your child to leave no plaque unturned.

Toothpaste Temptations

All children can benefit from fluoride, but it’s important to use the right amount of toothpaste. Current recommendations advise using a smear of fluoride toothpaste (or an amount about the size of a grain of rice) for children younger than 3 and a pea-sized amount for children 3 to 6. Since the fluoride found in toothpaste is clearly meant to be swished but not swallowed, make sure to help or watch the child while brushing. When she is old enough, tell her to spit out the toothpaste after brushing. ​

Author

Laura A. Jana, MD, FAAP and Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP

Last Updated

11/21/2015

Source

Adapted from Food Fights, 2nd Edition (Copyright © 2012 American Academy of Pediatrics)

The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.

How Knowledge, Attitudes & Beliefs Affect Oral Health

Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs can affect oral health in a variety of ways. For example:

• Lack of knowledge and beliefs about primary teeth can affect willingness to seek oral health care for children.
• Beliefs about what causes oral disease and how to prevent it can influence attitudes about adopting good oral care habits and seeking oral health care before pain occurs.
• Fear, whether from community beliefs or from personal bad experiences, can influence attitudes about where and how to get oral health care.
• Health and safety concerns carried from immigrants’ countries of origin impact their willingness to use readily accessible resources for good oral health such as drinking fluoridated tap water.
• Myths and rumors combined with language barriers can prevent parents from embracing proven recommendations such as brushing a child’s teeth with a smear of fluoridated toothpaste as soon as the first tooth appears.

Additional Information on other site :

• Dental Health: Keeping Your Child’s Teeth Healthy
• First Steps to a Healthy Smile
• What is a Pediatric Dentist?
• Water Fluoridation

Healthy Teeth and Your Child's Diet

Besides regular toothbrushing, your child's diet will play a key role in his dental health.

Why Sugar is the Big Villain

The longer and more frequently his teeth are exposed to sugar, the greater the risk of cavities. "Sticky sugar" foods such as sticky caramel, toffee, gum, and dried fruit—particularly when it stays in his mouth and bathes his teeth in sugar for hours—could do serious damage.

• Make sure to always brush your child's teeth after a sugary food item.
• Do not allow young children to have any sugar-containing liquid in a sippy cup for a prolonged period. See How to Prevent Tooth Decay in Your Baby.

How to Cut Down on Sweets

Almost everyone naturally enjoys sweets, and your child is no different. Like other human beings, she was born with a taste for sugar, and she's already quite sensitive to different concentrations of sweetness. Offer her a yam and a baked potato, and she'll take the yam every time. Give her a choice between the yam and a cookie, and the cookie will win.
Rest assured, it's not your fault if she makes a beeline for the candy and ice cream when you'd rather she take a piece of cheese. But it is your responsibility to limit her access to sweets and to provide a diet made up primarily of more nutritious foods that promote growth, not tooth decay.

TV advertising

Television advertising, incidentally, can be a serious obstacle to your child's good nutrition. Some studies show that children who watch over twenty-two hours of TV per week (over three hours of screen time a day) have a greater tendency to become obese. Children are extremely receptive to ads for sugary cereals and sweets, especially after they've visited other homes where these foods are served. Obesity is a growing problem among children in America. For this reason, you need to be aware of your young child's eating habits, at home and away, and monitor them to make sure she's eating as healthy as possible.

At home

To combat outside influences, keep your own home as healthy as possible. Stock up on low-sodium, low-sugar, and low-fat products. Eventually he'll become accustomed to healthful foods, which may make him less susceptible to the temptation of the more sugary, salty, or greasy ones.