As we all know, oral hygiene is critical to reduce the risk of dental issues and the best thing you can do for your children is to teach and model best practices that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. In this short blog, we present a few best practices for good oral hygiene that you can teach your kids.
- Brushing is fun – Start with buying good quality toothbrushes that are designed for young children, along with a tasty, flavoured toothpaste, make sure it contains fluoride. Make brushing a family activity, with you and your partner taking the lead; find some good animations on YouTube that kids can watch that shows how to effectively brush. If you are new to the area and have yet to register with a local dentist, My Family Dental in Townsville is the perfect clinic, as they are family-friendly, as the name implies. A few months of brushing before and after bed and after every meal will quickly establish a routine that they will follow throughout their lives.
- Eliminate excess sugar from their diet – Show your kids images of teeth that are severely impacted by tooth decay, this shocks young kids, but often, that leads to a sugar-free diet. Of course, you need to take your children to your local dental clinic every few months for check-ups, which enables the dentist to carry out oral examinations that would reveal any issues.
- Introduce mouthwash – When your child reaches the age of 7-8, this is the ideal time to introduce antiseptic mouthwash, to start with, use the mouthwash after the bedtime brush, which helps by removing plaque prior to 6-8 hours of inactivity. If your children ask questions about oral hygiene, provide them with answers and encourage them to be interested on oral hygiene.
- Flossing – Teenagers are ready to floss; YouTube hosts some amazing animation videos that clearly show the correct way to floss. Again, try to make it as interesting as you can, so your kids view it with excitement rather than a chore that has to be done.
Start by registering your family at a local family-friendly dental practice, then the dentist can start to teach the kids why oral hygiene is important.
