Teaching your child dental hygiene

By the time children start walking, they can start to learn the ABCs of brushing teeth.

If they learn that brushing and flossing are fun, they will develop good dental habits for a lifetime.

Choosing the right toothpaste is a good place to start. Try some child-friendly, kaleidoscope colour pastes: some are even flecked with sparkles. Just make sure, your little ones don’t eat the whole tube by keeping them out of reach.

Next, take your child shopping to pick out a fancy child- sized brush. There are brushes to suit different ages. At home, set out a little stool so that your child can look into the mirror and can reach the tap without stretching.

A pea-shaped amount of mild tasting toothpaste should be used. Brushing takes time to learn, so go easy. Good brushing takes at least three minutes, which may test a child’s fickle attention. Try brushing along with the children and make it a game, a nursery rhyme or song can also help. If it helps try putting a timer in the bathroom or give your child a tooth brush with an in built timer. This also makes it fun.

Flossing teeth

By the time they are six or seven, children are old enough to brush twice a day on their own. If you make it a highlight of the day, they will do it with pleasure.

As soon as two teeth touch, its time to start flossing. Children from one year onwards need daily flossing to avoid gum disease and cavities that form between the teeth. Only flossing can effectively remove the plaque and food that forms between the teeth and below the gum-line where a tooth brush cant reach. Here’s how to floss your child’s teeth…

First wrap a 12-to-18 inch strand of floss around your middle fingers, just as you would for yourself, and then hold a one-inch section tightly. Then gently slide the floss in between each of your child teeth using a saw like motion. Once at the gum line, pull both ends of the floss tightly in the same direction, and move the floss up and down against one tooth. Then pull the floss against the other tooth, and repeat the same motion.

Great example

Between ages of five to ten, children can usually floss their own teeth. And thanks to your perseverance and great example, they will want to.

Good oral hygiene is an integral part of your child’s general health, as starting effective brushing at a young age, can prevent dental cavities, and its associated risks like dental abscesses, and infections. You can get your child off to good start by: Brushing at least twice a day (after breakfast, and just before going to sleep at night), and flossing every night.

Visit the dentist at least twice a year. Limit intake of sugar and sweets. Take plenty of vegetables.