How to Teach Oral Hygiene for Kids
Your child hates brushing their teeth and you have to practically drag them into the dentist office kicking and screaming. You know it’s important to teach them good oral hygiene when they are young but your little one wants no part of it.
It doesn’t have to be so hard. The biggest tip for teaching oral hygiene for kids is to make it fun. Once you do that, they will be looking at brushing their teeth as an activity instead of a chore.
To help you get your child excited about brushing, here are a few great ways to make it fun.
1. Make it a Family Activity
Not only does your child love spending time with you but they can learn from you, too. So, try brushing and flossing together! After a while, they’ll start to mimic your technique.
If you want, you can even throw in a creative jingle about brushing your teeth. After you’re done, you can teach them how to floss.
2. Special Brushing Tools
Your child is more likely to get excited about brushing their teeth if their toothbrush looks like something that they like.
If it’s time to toss out their old toothbrush, consider replacing it with one that’s their favourite colour or has their favourite cartoon character on it.
Similarly, your child may respond a lot more to strawberry flavoured toothpaste with a fun character on the package vs. mint.
3. Books and Videos
If a child can associate brushing with their favourite video, book, or song then they are likely to take brushing more seriously themselves. You can check out books and videos out from your public library or order some from offline.
If you do check them out from the library take your child with you. They’ll respond better if you let them pick out their own brushing books and you’ll teach them two good habits at once.
4. Gold Stars
Elementary schools usually have a board in place where kids earn colourful slips of paper, smiley faces, or stars if they’ve done something good. It’s a system that actually works because children enjoy being rewarded.
Why not try it at home with brushing? Put an oral hygiene themed board in the bathroom and when your child brushes their teeth and flosses then they will earn a star.
5. Make Dentist Appointments Fun
Most children don’t do well with the dentist. Some are even terrified by it. You can lessen the blow by putting some excitement in their dentist appointment by taking them to do something fun afterward.
You could take them to a park or take them to buy their favourite healthy snacks. Whatever you do, they’ll start to associate the dentist with that pleasant thing and be a little less hesitant to go to their appointment.
Tips for Teaching Good Oral Hygiene for Kids
Is your child not exactly thrilled about brushing and flossing? Don’t worry, there are plenty of ways to teach good oral hygiene for kids.
The main thing to take away from all of this is to make it fun and rewarding. This will allow your child to associate brushing with something fun instead of something tedious.
Do you feel a calling to make oral hygiene fun and exciting for children? Request information about dental school today.