6 tips to survive brushing your kids' teeth

Speaking from experience, brushing your own kids’ teeth is always a battle. Especially at the end of the day, at the end of witching hour.. It’s hard and everyone who has taken on the challenge deserves a medal. It really is so much easier at work where we have a million buttons on the dental chair to distract them with.

A few strategies tried and tested - my 6 tips to help!

  1. Have a two-minute song up your sleeve.

  2. Think of it like a colouring-in - you have to get every area! Make it a game and get them to guess which area you missed.

  3. Give the child choices: eg are we starting with the upper teeth or lower teeth first. Or In our house, teeth open ‘ahhhhs’ or teeth together “eeeee’s” .

  4. Celebrate the spit! Always celebrate the spit. This is quite important. Swallowing toothpaste is not ok. See my other posts on this

  5. Use a deliberately small-headed toothbrush

  6. Don’t forget the inner side of all of the teeth.

There is emerging evidence that suggests the kids’ toothpaste (400ppm) we have here in Australia is a little weak on the fluoride-front to prevent decay. Over in Europe and America kids toothpaste is closer to 1000ppm. My thoughts are use the 400ppm as a stepping stone=, but move them across to 1000ppm or 1450ppm as soon as they’re spitting consistently and can tolerate the taste! Getting them across to a higher strength toothpaste is even more important it they have had a history of decay/fillings.

Best wishes,
Dr Tom Shumack
BSc, BDent (Hons), GradDip(Oral Implants), MRACDS

Cristy Houghtonstress, teeth grinding, clenching, Bruxism, dental, mouthguard