Teaching your Children Good Oral Hygiene

Good oral hygiene is the act of keeping your mouth and teeth clean throughout the day. Proper hygiene practices translate to good oral health, an essential part of your life. When teaching oral hygiene to your children, it is crucial to start early and lead by example. This ensures that they adopt proper practices and use them throughout their lives.

Like adults, children are highly susceptible to developing dental complications that affect their overall health and wellbeing. Having a clean mouth lowers the chances of dental diseases and tooth loss. Additionally, good dental hygiene plays a massive role for aesthetic reasons as it will keep your child’s teeth looking white and polished. Teaching good oral hygiene practices is essential to creating a solid routine. Finding inclusive and fun ways to teach these habits can help encourage the children to keep up with the practices.

Oral Hygiene Habits to Teach your Children

To ensure that your child maintains good oral health, you need to teach them the proper oral hygiene practices. Oral hygiene habits you can teach are:

Teeth Brushing

According to the American Dental Association, you need to brush your teeth twice a day for up to two minutes, especially after meals. As soon as your child starts to develop teeth, it is essential to teach them how to brush them. Unfortunately, after brushing your teeth for decades, you may not put too much thought into what the process entails. This can make it hard to demonstrate how to brush teeth to your children.

Usually, children are not born knowing how to hold a toothbrush and clean their teeth. Brushing is a skill that the kids need to learn and practice to effectively remove the plaque and keep their teeth and gums healthy. Some of the basics for proper brushing that you can teach your children are:

• Holding the toothbrush at a forty-five-degree angle against your gums.

• Moving the toothbrush in small strokes back and forth.

• Brushing the inner, outer, and chewing surface of the tooth.

• Brushing the gum line.

• When brushing the inside of their front teeth, they need to turn their toothbrush to face vertically.

• Brushing teeth for up to two minutes. Children need to be brushing their teeth enough to ensure that their mouth is clean and all the plaque is eliminated. Brushing at least two times a day is usually enough to ensure a clean mouth. Additionally, experts have determined that brushing for up to two minutes is enough to clean the mouth effectively. 

Your child’s teeth are not the only thing that they should clean. The tongue can collect bacteria as much as the teeth. Therefore, it would help teach your child how to clean their tongue from the front and backside after all the teeth are clean. Since there is no risk of cavities on the tongue, many people ignore cleaning this part. However, tongue bacteria can cause bad breath, and the bacteria could be transferred to the gums and teeth even after brushing. Therefore, it is essential to emphasize the importance of proper tongue brushing when you teach your child good oral hygiene.

As soon as your child can hold a toothbrush correctly, it would be best if you let them brush their teeth in front of a mirror. Most children learn a skill better when they do it. However, you may need to supervise the brushing until they are older. This is because young children may lack the skill to brush all the tooth surfaces effectively. Allowing your child to use a mirror helps them see what they are doing. Children who do not brush their teeth may find it challenging to adopt the technique later.

When you teach your child how to brush their teeth correctly, you need to use the correct tools. Using a child-friendly toothpaste and toothbrush will go a long way to help the child learn to brush their teeth. A child-sized toothbrush will correctly fit in the child’s mouth and be easier to maneuver. A child will be more excited when they choose their toothbrush and use tasty toothpaste.

Another visual aid you can use to help your child learn and adopt proper brushing techniques is watching a brushing video. When a child sees the correct brushing, they can replicate it on themselves. Brushing together with your children and practicing on stuffed animals may be another fun way to teach your child how to brush correctly. Turning brushing into a bonding activity will allow the child to be more enthusiastic. 

Regular Flossing

Brushing is the first line of defense against tooth decay, gum disease, and bad breath. However, it is essential to teach your child how to floss. Dental floss helps remove food particles in parts of the mouth where the toothbrush cannot reach. Food particles may be stuck along the gum line and between the teeth. If these food particles are not removed, gum disease and tooth decay may develop.

Teaching your child to floss early on will help ensure that they continue the routine as they grow up. If you are struggling with teaching your children how to floss, you should try doing it together, use the reward technique and allow them to choose the floss.

Dental Visits

One of the most significant ways to teach and maintain good oral hygiene for your children is by enforcing compulsory dental visits. The sooner your child begins their regular dental checkups, the healthier their mouths will stay. However, even when there is no issue with your child’s oral health, you need to make sure that they make at least two dental visits each year. 

Some parents do not think too much of taking their young children for dental visits under the assumption that these teeth will soon be replaced. However, your child’s oral health begins with their first tooth, and problems with their mouth could affect the development of permanent teeth. There are several reasons why you need to teach your child the importance of regular dental checkups, including:

• Prevents tooth decay and the formation of cavities. Children are prone to tooth decay and cavities. Practicing proper oral hygiene coupled with regular dental checkups will help in the early detection of the problem and treat it before it worsens. 

• Prevent malocclusion. The baby teeth serve as a foundation for the development of permanent teeth. This could guarantee correct spacing and positioning of the permanent teeth. However, ignoring your child’s oral health could result in tooth alignment problems, and the permanent teeth will not have sufficient space. If tooth misalignment is discovered early on, the pediatric dentist can correct it and prevent malocclusion.

• Keep your child’s oral system clean. Enforcing regular dental checkups can help your child maintain optimal oral health. When your child attains at least two years, some procedures like eliminating tartar may be necessary. Good teeth brushing for a two-year-old can be challenging. Therefore, the dental visits will aid in cleaning the grooves in the molars.

• It helps your children learn the importance of healthy eating habits. Children love candies and other sugary foods that are harmful to their teeth. Convincing a child to cut down on consumption of these foods may be challenging. However, during dental visits, the children can learn about the effects of these foods on their teeth.

Healthy Eating

Consumption of healthy foods is not only necessary for overall well-being. For example, teaching your children the importance of consuming vegetables and fruits will help prevent tooth decay and other complications like gum disease. Sweet and processed foods tend to stick on the teeth and can produce bacteria that damage your child’s teeth.

Using Fluoride

Most people believe that brushing and flossing are needed to maintain good oral hygiene. Although brushing is a good start, there is more to having a healthy set of teeth. Treating your teeth with fluoride is necessary to keep them healthy. As part of the oral hygiene practices you teach your children, fluoride in toothpaste and mouthwash will be one of them.

Fluoride is an essential tool used to strengthen the enamel of your teeth. Fluoride is a form of fluorine and is found in several natural resources. Fluoride strengthens your enamel and prevents tooth decay by increasing your tooth resistance to bacteria and acid. When the bacteria found on the plaque in your teeth start to feed on the sugar and produce acid, the process of demineralization begins. The only way to restore the minerals on the enamel is by fluoride. Often tooth decay takes place when the lost mineral cannot be replaced.

When your children consume fluoride, the mineral enters the bloodstream and plays a significant role in developing permanent teeth. When the fluoride in the mouth is enough, the acid from food and plaque will not be able to damage your enamel. Therefore, in addition to consuming foods rich in fluoride, you need to ensure that your children use mouthwash and toothpaste containing fluoride.

Ways to Teach your Children Oral Hygiene Habits

Teaching your child proper oral hygiene may not be easy, and you need as much patience as you can. However, the following are some tips you can use to ensure that they learn correctly:

Start Early

It would be best if you started to clean your child’s teeth as soon as they begin to erupt. When your children are used to having their mouth cleaned at an early age, it makes it easier for them to adopt the brushing and do it every day, even as they grow up. Once the child is old enough, you can correctly explain the entire process. When your child becomes more accustomed to brushing their teeth, you can introduce flossing.

Reward your Child for Consistency

Sometimes, a reward could be the biggest motivation for a child. Creating a reward system could help create a routine and track your child’s learning oral hygiene habits. For example, the rewards for brushing and flossing can be anything from a new toothbrush to a fun outing.

Lead by Example

You need to understand that good dental hygiene habits begin with you. If your children see you brush and floss at least twice daily, they are likely to follow you. When you make the process fun, you may see them mimic you and brush and floss daily in no time.

Choose the Right Pediatric Dentist

Finding the right dentists is the most important of all oral hygiene tips. A skilled pediatric dentist will know how to make your child feel comfortable and enjoy their visits. By prioritizing the child’s needs, the dentist motivates the child and reduces the fear of dental visits.

Spend Enough Time 

If your child is eager to finish their oral hygiene routine and move on to other things, they may fail to floss or brush their teeth correctly. Effective brushing must be done for up to two minutes to eliminate the plaque and bacteria from the tooth enamel and gums. You can set a timer for your child to help them feel in control of their routine. 

When you try to incorporate oral hygiene practices into your child’s routine, it will help to do it simultaneously every day. This helps enforce the behavior and makes children more likely to continue the activity even after supervising.  

Importance of Good Oral Hygiene in Children

Dental Problems cause many children to experience dental cavities and complications in childhood and later life. Therefore, teaching oral hygiene to your children can help lower the prevalence of these conditions. Some of the benefits associated with good oral hygiene practices include:

1. Overall Health

Oral hygiene is a significant part of your child’s overall health and wellbeing. Poor dental health may affect the child’s growth and development. Some dental conditions like cavities could affect a child’s feeding, speaking, and adapting to social situations. Also, poor dental health could result in bad breath and lowered self-esteem that could affect your child for a lifetime. Children with cavities and broken teeth may be underweight and show signs of irritability.

It is well established that dental infections could result in severe and chronic medical complications like cardiovascular disease. Other conditions that could stem from dental complications include blood infection, stroke, and diabetes. Since good health is best laid in the early years of life, teaching your child good oral hygiene practices is crucial. When your children adopt good oral hygiene practices, their chances of developing dental complicates are lowered, and they can maintain good overall health.

2. Cognitive Development

Poor dental hygiene has been associated with a lowered intellectual performance which is demonstrated by low cognitive scores. In addition, due to tooth infections, your child may be in and out of dental offices, increasing school absences. Although routine dental checkups will not interfere with school attendance, constant dental emergencies may affect your child’s ability to remain in school.

3. Helps Prevent Dental Complications

Making regular dental visits is one of the healthy oral habits you can teach your children. Regular assessment of your child’s gums and teeth helps in the early detection of oral and general health conditions like tooth grinding, vitamin deficiencies, or acid reflux. The early detection of these conditions allows for preventing and correcting tooth decay. Also, mouth tumors may be caught early and treated during regular dental checkups.

4. Psychological Consequences

Poor dental health causes psychological consequences in childhood and adolescence. For example, a repeated toothache can cause a child to be ill-tempered and unable to maintain emotional equilibrium. Also, dental malocclusion could create an imminent fear of rejection. When your child’s front teeth are damaged, they may be fearful of interacting with their peers, resulting in depression.

Training your children and motivating them to maintain good oral hygiene ensures reduced dental pain, proper dental function, and fewer expenses on dental emergencies. Additionally, good oral health in children could boost their social development.

Find a Tarzana Dentist Near Me

Your child tends to become more and more independent once they start walking. It is normal for toddlers and preschoolers to try and do some things independently, which may be the best time to teach them self-care skills. Proper oral hygiene is one of the many skills you can teach your kids as they grow up. Having a healthy smile can impact your overall health. Therefore, maintaining good oral hygiene practices should be a significant component of the child’s daily routine.

Helping your children understand the importance of good oral hygiene and teaching them the right practices from a young age is crucial. The sooner they learn how to eat healthy, brush and floss their teeth regularly, the better their chances of avoiding cavities and other oral health complications.

In addition to brushing and flossing, regular dental visits are necessary to help identify dental complications and treat them before they damage the teeth and gums. For more information and concerns on your child’s oral health, we invite you to contact Tarzana Dental Care. Call us today at 818-708-3232 to book an appointment.