You have been teaching your children the best ways to care for their smile at home by brushing and flossing. However, this routine can begin to feel like a chore for younger members of your family. It’s always a good idea to try to make this important regimen more fun. Here are five ways that you can add some excitement to oral hygiene for your kids.
Offer a Choice
Having a form of choice involved with their oral hygiene routine can help to make brushing time more exciting. Next time you are at your local drug or grocery store with your child, let them pick out their own dental tools. They might be able to find a kid’s toothbrush with their favorite superhero or cartoon character on it. There are also some fun toothpaste flavors to choose from. You might like peppermint, but it might be too strong of a flavor for your child to enjoy. Instead, have them choose between strawberry and orange or another more palatable flavor for kids.
Brushing Chart
To help your child keep track of their brushing and motivate them to do it more often, try setting up a chart where they can mark their progress. This could be a whiteboard with erasable markers or a calendar with a pack of stickers. Every day, when they fulfil their dental hygiene needs, they can add a new, fun sticker to the calendar.
Play a Song
To ensure that your child is brushing long enough, and to ensure that the process is more entertaining, play a two-minute song or video when they brush their teeth. This will help to make this daily ritual fly by faster, make the process more entertaining, and confirm that they are taking enough time to clean their smile thoroughly.
Set an Example
Try brushing your teeth as a family. This way, you are setting an example of why dental care is so important. When you brush together every morning and night, both you and your child will be more likely to stick to the routine and follow through with excellent oral hygiene. After all – there is no reason to be alone when we all need to be following these practices. The more the merrier!
Making Brushing a Game
Set a time and have your children brush their teeth for two minutes. After the timer is us, you can child your kits’ progress with plaque-disclosing tablets. When your child chews on one, it will highlight all of the areas that they missed when brushing. Then your child is challenged to brush away all of the color as thoroughly as possible. This way, your children can visually see their teeth becoming cleaner with some fun colors involved.
Dental hygiene is very important, but it doesn’t need to be boring. Try to use the tips listed above to bring more fun into oral hygiene.
About the Author
Dr. Spiro Saati earned his dental doctorate from Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine. Currently, he is a proud member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Dental Association and the Massachusetts Dental Society. He is also a clinical instructor at Harvard Dental School. To learn more about family dentistry or to schedule an appointment, visit his website or call (978) 531-2185.