Create Fun, Not Fights! Teeth Brushing Tips

Sometimes attempting to get your children to do something they just don’t want to do can be a real challenge but Artistic Touch Dentistry wants to help you with this so you don’t pull out your hair in frustration.

Especially after a long day at work, you have no desire to put up a fight but you know it’s essential for them to brush their teeth. There are a few tactics you could use. But the one I do not recommend is scaring them. When I was younger if I didn’t want to brush my teeth, my mother would go along with it and say that it was fine. However, she would tell me that when I woke up in the morning and my teeth had fallen out, I would know why. This is probably why every time I fall asleep accidentally without brushing my teeth or even on the nights I spend a great deal of time flossing, brushing, and whitening my teeth I have dreams about them falling out. I can’t even tell you how many times I have woken up in a panic to make sure my pearly whites were in mouth where they were supposed to be.

There are way better ways to convince your children to brush their teeth. One way is to buy the toothpaste that turns the teeth a color where there is plaque. This allows the children to see the point of what they are doing and they will learn that brushing your teeth probably is important. Another great motivator is to let them pick out their own supplies. Finding the perfect toothbrush or the toothpaste with their favorite cartoon character on it will excite them and they won’t fight you so much. Brushing your teeth with your children will show them that it’s not as bad as they might think and since they are always trying be grown up just like you they might just start to think brushing their teeth is cool.

If you find yourself with a child who clamps their jaw shut when it’s time to brush their teeth, get creative! Find ways to have fun with it and teach them that oral hygiene is important so they can have strong, healthy teeth for the rest of their life and not dream about them falling out every night. Call our doctors at Artistic Touch Dentistry to learn more about the importance of oral hygiene.