Your child’s sparkling smile is one of your favorite things. Keep it healthy with these five tips for children’s dental health.

1- Help Your Child Brush and Floss

As with most things in life, your children have to be taught how to brush and floss their teeth. The first step in teaching these skills is to perform them for your child yourself. From the time your child is a baby, brush his or her teeth twice a day. Floss them regularly once the teeth begin to touch. This sets an example of good oral hygiene for your child and keeps his or her teeth clean.

As your children approach school age, they can start to try brushing on their own, but you will need to take care of most of the brushing. By age six or seven, they can take primary responsibility for brushing and flossing, but they’ll still need your supervision. In fact, they will not be ready for total independence with these jobs until ages 10 or 11.

2- Use a Toothbrush Timer

Brushing your teeth twice a day should last for a minimum of two minutes per session. A two-minute timer will help kids know exactly how long the brushing period needs to last. Some timers that are designed especially for this purpose have flashing lights that blink more quickly as the time nears completion so that kids have an indication of how close they are to the end. You can even buy toothbrushes with built-in flashing timers. The fun nature of these brushes appeals to kids.

If you do not have a toothbrush timer, the Ad Council’s 2min2x campaign has a YouTube channel of two-minute videos that your child can watch while brushing. These amusing videos will have your youngster looking forward to brushing their teeth time.

3- Take Care of Toothbrushes

Brushing your teeth is most effective when the brush is clean and in good repair. Children’s toothbrushes must be thoroughly rinsed after each use, stored upright and allowed to dry between uses.

Children should not share toothbrushes. If one child uses another child’s toothbrush, the contaminated brush should be thrown away. Furthermore, various people’s brushes should not touch one another in storage.

Brushes should be replaced three or four times a year. If a child is hard on his or her toothbrush, it should be replaced more frequently than that. Signs that a toothbrush needs to be replaced include worn out or bent bristles. Toothbrushes should also be replaced after a child’s illness.

4- Visit the Dentist Regularly

Kids need to visit the dentist for regular checkups. At an office visit, the dental staff will give your child’s teeth a thorough cleaning, and the dentist will examine his or her mouth for any signs of trouble. It’s also a good time for you to ask questions you have about your child’s oral health.

Young children should see the dentist for the first time before they are one year old. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that children see the dentist every six months. Special circumstances may require your child to be seen more often.

5- Get Sealants

A child’s back teeth are particularly susceptible to decay because of their rough, bumpy surfaces that are harder to brush than the smoother teeth up front. Of course, you and your child should do your best to brush these back teeth twice a day, but getting sealants put on these teeth provides an extra measure of protection.

“Sealants are plastic coatings that are applied to teeth to protect them from tooth decay,” said Commonwealth Dentistry. They are made of a liquid material that is painted onto the teeth, and as it dries, it becomes hard.

Sealants are applied at the dentist’s office. They dry quickly, so the process is usually fast and can be done during a child’s regularly scheduled checkup. They should be applied as soon as permanent molars emerge. The first round of molars usually comes through during the early elementary years, and the second set comes in between upper elementary school and junior high. Some dentists even apply sealants to baby teeth to provide extra protection for a child’s smile.

Source: realdetroitweekly.com
“5 Great Ways to Improve Your Child’s Dental Health” by: Jay Davis