3 Ways To Help Your Child Develop Good Dental Habits

Posted on: 15 April 2015

Getting children to brush their teeth can be impossible sometimes. Even if they do brush their teeth, they may just gloss over their mouth with a toothbrush without being very thorough. If you want your child to develop good dental habits, then follow these 3 tips.

Brushing Rewards

First, consider rewards for your children to help them start brushing more regularly and for longer periods of time. For example, create a chart where you can award stars or write in points for your children when they brush.

You can assign a certain number of stars or points based on the number of times a day your children brush and on the length of time. If your children only brush for ten seconds, this is not really going to do much. That is why you should increase the reward for hitting certain time marks. 

A good rule of thumb is to require them to brush for one minute, which will give them enough time to brush all of their teeth thoroughly. After your children earn enough points or stars, they can redeem their points for rewards.

Chew Tablets

Second, your pediatric dentist can give you special tablets for your children to chew after they brush. These tablets work by sticking to the teeth where your children did not brush well. If there is still plaque, it will turn pink so that it is very obvious.

This is a fun way to teach children how to develop good dental habits because they will become much more aware of how well or how poorly they are brushing. You may want to employ this method for a couple of weeks, and then pick random nights to have your children chew the tablets to see if they are still using good brushing habits.

Fluoride Drops

Lastly, include fluoride drops in your children's daily diets if it is not found in your city water. Fluoride is a great protector against cavities, and it should be taken consistently to work effectively.

Your children will have much stronger teeth as well, which means that their teeth will not be as prone to problems as they get older. You can get fluoride drops from a pediatric dentist or even from a pediatrician. In some cases, you can also get fluoride tablets that have to be taken every day, but drops are easier because they are basically tasteless.

By doing these 3 things, you can help your children to develop good dental habits that will protect their teeth from cavities and other dental problems. For more advice, speak with experts like A Wild Smile.

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