How To Teach Your Kid To Brush Their Teeth

Brushing your teeth isn’t the most exciting task, but it’s important for keeping your smile healthy and sparkling. This is true no matter your age.

Unfortunately, helping your child develop healthy and consistent brushing habits can be challenging.

It’s difficult to get your little ones to brush for the recommended 2 minutes, let alone do it twice a day. But building healthy habits when they’re young is a great way to establish good dental health early in life.

Why is Brushing Crucial for Kids?

Perhaps most importantly, brushing prevents cavities. Cavities are one of the most common childhood diseases. They occur when bacteria in the mouth break down tooth enamel. This causes holes or decay.

Brushing your teeth helps protect them against cavities by removing these bacteria.

While a cavity might not be a dental emergency, it is expensive to fix and is an indication that there’s room for improvement in dental health.

Brushing also reduces the risk of gum disease and freshens breath.

These are just a few reasons why it’s so important for kids to brush their teeth. By establishing good brushing habits at an early age, you can help your child maintain a healthy smile for years to come.

5 Fun Ways to Teach Your Kid to Brush Their Teeth

Here are five fun ways to encourage your child to brush their teeth:

1. Make It Musical

Songs are a great way to not only make brushing fun, but also to make sure you’re brushing for the proper amount of time. Consider singing “Happy Birthday” or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” while brushing.

2. Create a Reward Chart

While they might not be a big deal for adults, stickers are exciting for kids. You can encourage your child to brush by using a chart that they can add a sticker to after they brush their teeth each day.

3. Turn Brushing Into a Game

Use a timer and see how long your child can brush their teeth. Whoever brushes their teeth the longest wins the game. Or have a contest to see who brushes the best. If your child reaches every tooth inside of their mouth (they should!), they win the game.

4. Brush Together as a Family

You can encourage your child to establish good dental health habits by setting a good example. Make teeth brushing an activity that adults and kids do together.

5. Improve Their Brushing Tools

Choose a toothbrush with your child’s favorite character on it or one that lights up and plays music. Or, consider using flavored toothpaste. Let your child pick out a flavor of toothpaste they like to make the experience more enjoyable. You can also try making homemade toothpaste with natural ingredients like baking soda, coconut oil, and essential oils.

Even though children’s teeth are not yet fully developed, it’s still important to start brushing them as soon as they appear. If you wait too long, bacteria can build up and cause decay.

Tooth brushing is one of the most important things you can do to prevent cavities. It removes plaque, a sticky film of food and bacteria, from teeth. Establishing a good dental routine when you’re young helps you avoid bigger problems, too, such as gum disease.

If you’re not sure how to brush your child’s teeth, ask their dentist for a demonstration. Their dentist can also teach your child good brushing habits and teach you how to incorporate brushing into your child’s daily routine.