Dental Health Tips for Children

Encouraging good oral hygiene habits from a young age can have a lifelong impact on your child. Getting cavities as a child starts the cycle of dental care early and leads to more treatment throughout a lifetime - and often more fear of the dentist! As a parent, one of the greatest gifts you can give your child is healthy teeth and a lovely smile. Here are some tips to set your child up for a lifetime of good oral hygiene. 

Keeping Your Child’s Teeth Clean

Yes, this is something you need to be doing! As a parent, your mind is probably already full of to-do lists all day long, but if taking care of your child's teeth isn't on the list - please add it! And for those of you thinking, “Why should I bother? They’re just going to lose those teeth soon anyway,” know that baby teeth need to be taken care of. They can develop cavities, which if large enough, can risk bacterial infection spreading and causing swelling in the mouth and throat. In rare cases, this can be life threatening. Plus, those baby teeth have an important job as placeholders for our adult teeth! If we lose our baby teeth too early, we drastically increase the chances that a child's adult teeth will erupt in the wrong position - say hello to years of braces and orthodontic treatment. 

And let’s talk about doing actual dental work on kids - because it ain’t easy! Pulling teeth because of extensive tooth decay can be traumatic for a child if they are awake for the procedure. Sometimes general anesthetic is used for small children needing dental care because it just isn’t possible to work on them while awake. Even needing to get a shot with local anesthetic as a small child, for a filling for example, can turn into a lifelong fear of the dentist. We love to keep your child's experiences with the dentist as pain free and positive as possible - leading to a happy healthy adult who doesn’t sweat their dentist appointments. 

For babies

As soon as you see those new teeth start popping through the gums you want to be brushing them! Obviously at first this won't take more than a few seconds to do, and will probably feel silly. But just know that you are laying the groundwork for a life of good dental health. At first you will use the tiniest little drop of child friendly fluoride toothpaste - just the size of one grain of rice! And equally as important, baby will start getting used to a toothbrush and having brushing be a part of the nighttime routine. Once a baby is big enough to be sleeping through the night without food, be conscious to brush after their last feed or bottle. Night time milk exposure is a major cause of cavities, so be careful with the habit of using a bottle of milk to fall asleep. 

For Children 

Keep on reinforcing that night time oral hygiene routine! At the toddler age, they might fight you. But know that it is worth the fight. We’ll touch on how to brush your child's teeth in a bit, so hang tight. Just keep in mind that children need help brushing their teeth, even if they want to be independent. So make sure that you are giving their teeth a good once over after they have had their own go at it. And don’t forget the floss! Many parents wonder when they should start flossing their children's teeth, and the answer is - as soon as their teeth touch one another. Often kids have spaces between their baby teeth, so if that’s the case then there’s no need to floss those areas. But any spots where two teeth are contacting one another should be flossed. Remember that at this age your child is a sponge and wants to be just like mommy and daddy! Set the stage by being a good example. 

For Teens 

At this age do the best you can to keep oral hygiene and dental health a focus. Obviously teens don’t want to be micromanaged so you might need to have some tact in your approach. But concerns at this age often are related to late night activities that disrupt the night time oral hygiene routine. Especially concerning can be night time snacking/beverage intake if it is not followed up by a proper brush and floss before bed. This is often the age where gingivitis first starts to become a problem so make sure to be taking your teen for regular dental check ups. 

How To Brush and Floss Your Child's Teeth

The best place is in bed! Your wiggly toddler is not easy to brush when standing in the bathroom while you’re trying to crouch down to their level. In addition to your dental set up in the bathroom, have everything you need on their bedside table. If your child is laying down in bed their head will be supported, making proper brushing easier for you. You also will have a much easier time actually seeing inside their mouth than if they are standing. If your child is in the phase where they don't want to brush, you can sit in bed, place their head in between your legs and their arms held down gently by your legs. This position is recommended by pediatric dentists as being the most effective! If you’re using the right amount of toothpaste, they won’t need to spit or rinse afterwards. Having everything you need bedside is also extra insurance to make sure the oral routine actually happens, even if your child needs a bottle of milk in bed during storytime. You can have them drink a bit of water when they're done with their bottle, then take care of their teeth after, all without having to get out of bed and head back to the bathroom. 

How Much Toothpaste Should You Put On Your Child's Toothbrush?

Once your baby starts erupting teeth, you can use a drop of kid friendly toothpaste. The size of one grain of uncooked rice is enough. Hot tip - when opening a new tube of paste, just poke a small hole in the protective film with a fork or toothpick, rather than removing the whole thing. It will be easier to control the amount of toothpaste you squeeze out. In the toddler years you will increase the amount of toothpaste to a small pea. Once they are school aged you can increase the size even more. At this age you can also switch to regular toothpaste as well. 

When Kids Should Start Flossing and How To Help Them

The start of flossing will vary from child to child - as it is dictated by the spacing in between their teeth. Anywhere where their teeth are touching one another needs to be flossed. For some kids with lots of open spaces between their teeth, flossing might not be relevant until their adult teeth start coming in. But if your child's baby teeth are in contact, you should be flossing those spots. Be sure to help them floss when they’re still too young to have the manual dexterity to do it themselves. In bed laying down with their head supported is often easier than standing.

Finally, kids tend to like yummy flavors, so try a floss that is tasty, like TrollTunga Tråd! Allowing your child to choose which flavor they will use tonight can make flossing fun!