How to Help Brush Your Toddler’s Teeth

Helping your child brush their teeth can be a bit of a challenge, especially at the end of the day when you are exhausted. It is easy to brush their teeth quickly, thinking you’ve properly done the job in less than a minute, but there can still be plenty of bacteria and plaque lying around.
When your little one’s teeth grow in, bring them in for a check up so we can monitor the bite and their teeth. It will also get them used to coming to the dentist and not associate it with fear. As we do see many children at our office, we figured we would like to share some tips to help them with their daily oral hygiene habit:
1. Make into their daily habit. After they wake up and before they go to bed, as long as they are brushed twice during the day around the same time, it will be hard to forget or miss brushing their teeth.
2. Fluoride is important when it comes to prevention of tooth decay.
For children between the ages of 1-3, NHS recommends using toothpaste with 1,000PPM of fluoride.
After the age of 3, NHS recommends using toothpaste with 1,350-1,500 PPM of fluoride.
3. Associate brushing their teeth as a positive experience. Play a song they like, sing a song, and they will look forward to getting their teeth brushed. We happen to have a great mp3 our own hygienist made, that is perfect to listen to while having their teeth brushed.
4. If you are helping your toddler brush their teeth, get on a level where it would be easy for your arm to have access to their teeth. Get on your knee, or sit on a small stool for support.
They can start brushing their own teeth as soon as they are able to, but it is important for you to check and help miss some of the areas they might have missed and are more difficult to access.
5. Don’t force the toothbrush on them, let them get ready for you otherwise they will not like getting their teeth brushed. You can encourage them by saying things like “open as big as an alligator or a lion”, or make them “roar like a lion”.
6. Try to avoid brushing too far back, as it can trigger their gag reflex.
7. Brush their teeth for two minutes, and concentrate when you are brushing their teeth, making sure you are not missing any areas. Be sure to keep eye contact, and don’t be distracted by your phone or anything else.
8. Provide reassurance, if they want you to hold their hand, hold their hand.
9. After the two minutes is up, tell them to show you their pearly whites, and tell them how clean, healthy and strong their teeth look so they see the benefit of having their teeth brushed.
10. It is recommended to replace the toothbrush every three months, or when the bristles start to wear – whichever occurs first.
Children will look forward to brushing their teeth if they get to choose their toothbrush when shopping for a new toothbrush.
11. Electric toothbrushes are proven to be more effective, and there will be less physical work for you.

On that note, the most important tip we can give you is getting them into the habit of brushing their teeth twice a day. Some days can be more difficult than others, but always use positive reinforcement and wrap things up positively.

Our hygienist, Laura is a great oral hygiene educator and she can offer you some more tips as well.

Posted by Indigo Little on 26th March 2015, under Children

Dr. Kishanie Wijesinghe Little BDS

Dr. Kishanie Little is passionate about delivering excellent dentistry and dental restorations that are life-like and indistinguishable from natural teeth. She believes that restorations (fillings/crowns/veneers) should look beautiful – and that they should last. Dr. Little keeps abreast of new developments in restorative dentistry through post-graduate training.

Dr. Little is also an experienced Facial Aesthetistician, including Botulinum toxins (such as Botox) and Dermafillers. She appreciates how simple and subtle changes to smooth and relax muscles can “freshen” a face, to look younger.

In her personal time, she loves to cook, read, run, practice yoga and pilates, play a bad game of tennis and am now learning to play golf. She loves Art and Theatre and support the Tate Modern. She also enjoys writing and has a book in the works.