Teaching Your Child Proper Oral Hygiene Skills
Teaching your child proper oral hygiene skills is important for their oral health. Oral hygiene is the practice of keeping the mouth clean and free of diseases and other issues. It's very important that dental hygiene be carried out on a daily basis to enable prevention of oral health issues. Your pediatric dentist at Kitchener East Family Dental, which is located in Kitchener, ON, offers a full range of dental care services to kids of all ages. Here are 5 tips your pediatric dentist may recommend for teaching your child proper oral hygiene skills.
1. Books and Videos: You can use books and videos to increase your children's oral health knowledge and get them excited about oral hygiene. Check out children's books from the library that encourage healthy oral care habits. You can also show your children fun videos about oral hygiene for kids. Books and videos that are designed for children are great for teaching them how to take care of their smile.
2. Brush and Floss Together: One way to make your child interested in oral care is to floss and brush together. Kids usually mimic what their parents do. Show your child your amazing tooth brushing skills, including your excellent tongue brushing technique. After brushing, floss his teeth or teach him how to floss if he's old enough to do it on his own. To make flossing and brushing fun, sing a song or create a rhyme about keeping teeth healthy.
3. Children's Toothbrushes: Another way to keep your child's interest alive is with fun kid's toothbrushes. Kid's toothbrushes look similar to adult products, but have slightly smaller heads and larger handles. When it's time to replace your child's old toothbrush with a new one, opt for a colorful, soft-bristled toothbrush or one with a cartoon character such as the Colgate Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dora the Explorer, or SpongeBob toothbrush.
4. Keep Track of Time: The ADA recommends that kids and adults brush for two minutes, twice a day. How do you know that your child is brushing for long enough? Keeping a timer in the bathroom is one way to ensure your child is brushing his teeth for the recommended two minutes. You can also use a brushing app to encourage him to brush longer.
5. Reward System: To make brushing and flossing more fun for your child, create your own reward system. You and your child can decorate colorful posters with teeth, toothpaste, toothbrushes, healthy snacks, and other dental health themes to represent the days of each month. Every time your child brushes or flosses, give her a sticker to put on the poster as a reward.
Regular dental visits are also an important part of keeping your child's smile healthy for life. To keep your child's oral health on track, call Kitchener East Family Dental at (519) 578-2419 today to schedule a dental appointment with our pediatric dentist for your child in Kitchener, ON. Every child deserves to have a smile that is both healthy and beautiful!