Latest Articles & Competitons
Our Partners
Help for Parents: Dental Care
Your children’s teeth and their attitude to dental care is entirely in their parents' hands. Establish a good routine early and they will keep it, and their teeth, for life. Here's our help for parents on that vital aspect of children's health: dental care.
Brushing
If your child is less than two years old use a small smear of toothpaste on the brush. After that an amount no bigger than a pea will be sufficient, which will increase in size as teeth grow.
If the child is young, stand behind and lean over to brush their teeth for them. Do this standing in front of a mirror so they can see what you’re doing.
Follow these steps as a basic routine:
1) Cavities develop first in the upper and lower back teeth, so start with those first and spend a good minute and half on them. Rather than going up and down and back and forth, use a gentle circular motion so as not to disturb or push on the gums too much.
2) Now get your child to spit but not rinse.
3) Spend a minute on the upper and lower front teeth, not forgetting the inside parts facing the tongue. If you ignore these for too long, brown streaks will appear, especially on the front middle two where the first bites of food are taken.
4) Now spit but don’t rinse, again.
Brushing should take no longer than two and a half minutes. You could use an egg timer to measure this, or even play a favourite song and get them to brush until it finishes.
Flossing
As soon as your child’s teeth begin to touch each other, you should start flossing once a day. It may seem like an arduous task but once it’s in their routine, it won’t leave.
Why and how to floss
Toothbrushes can only get to the obvious places but food can get further. Once a piece of food gets lodged it begins to rot not only causing a nasty smell and the possible beginnings of halitosis, but also bacteria that will erode tooth enamel. Enamel stops bacteria from getting to the root where it can cause decay, infection and toothache, so it is important to take care of it.
If a reel of floss is proving too difficult to use on your child then there are children’s flossers with handles for easier access into small mouths.
1) Begin with the back teeth (these will usually be the ones to touch each other first) and work your way around to the front ones.
2) When your child is ready to have a go, watch in the mirror to check they’re doing it properly.
Other Tips
1) Brush twice a day, ideally last thing at night and in the morning after breakfast, for two to two and half minutes. Anymore and you could damage the gums.
2) If you spit out the toothpaste but don’t rinse the residual toothpaste acts as extra protection to the enamel.
3) Use a straw when drinking fruit juice as it is highly corrosive to the teeth.
4) Use a smaller brush so as to get into all the nooks and crannies.
5) Eat sweets after mealtimes only.
6) Children under seven should be supervised when brushing teeth.
7) Try to floss once a day. The build up of plaque is the main cause behind decay and gum disease.
Related Articles:
If you're looking for help for parents or tips on children's health, we think you'll find the following articles useful.
Children's Health: the Facts About Childhood Obesity
Children's Health: The Benefits of Swimming
