Having trouble getting your child to brush his teeth?

First-time mom, Angelie Wong, 38, knows the importance of early dental care for her two-year-old son Dylan. To help Dylan develop a positive attitude towards the dentist, Angelie has been taking him with her to her own dentist appointments since before his first birthday. At each visit, the dentist checked Dylan’s teeth for decay or signs of early developmental problems and answered any questions or concerns that Angelie had about caring for Dylan’s teeth.

At a recent visit, the dentist recommended that Angelie begin to use a toothbrush (rather than a soft cloth) when cleaning Dylan’s teeth. She’s been trying, but has found it difficult to get Dylan to accept this new way of doing things. After a few frustrating attempts, she called her dentist to get some recommendations about how she might make this easier.

Tips for toothbrushing

The dentist had many suggestions, based on information he’d gleaned from a number of parents who visit his office and had dealt with exactly the same issue. If you’ve had issues with getting your children to brush their teeth, you might find some of these suggestions helpful, too:

• Try to make toothbrushing fun for your child: get different flavored toothpastes or toothbrushes with his favorite characters.
• Reward your child for a job well done: he gets a sticker each time he cooperates, participates or brushes his own teeth, depending on what is appropriate behavior for his age.
• If your child is familiar with the dentist, you can “play dentist” when brushing his or her teeth.
• Depending on the age of the child, he may just want to play with the toothbrush a bit before you get serious and brush his teeth.
• Take turns: Let the child hold your toothbrush and “help you” brush your teeth so that once he is done, you can take your turn at brushing his teeth.
• Tell your child a story about “sugar bugs” that are on his teeth. Pretend to see them, describe them and chase them with a toothbrush.
• Find videos online of other kids brushing their teeth. They may be home videos or educational videos. Kids love to try things they see other kids doing.
• Start brushing your teeth casually, while your child watches. Soon, he’ll want his own toothbrush and want to brush his teeth, too.

Says Angelie, “I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to clean his teeth adequately with a toothbrush because of how he would struggle. But my dentist said not to worry too much about the cleaning and just make it fun. Even if the brushing wasn’t very effective, doing it daily showed how important it was and eventually the skill (on my part and later on his part) would come.”

Looking forward to new milestones

Angelie has been trying some of the dentist’s suggestions and having more success with using a toothbrush when cleaning Dylan’s teeth. She’s slowly introducing him to playing with and using the toothbrush himself. At her dentist’s recommendation, she’s only using a pea-sized amount of toothpaste to make sure he doesn’t accidentally swallow too much fluoride at his young age. She’s looking forward to next year when, at age 3, she expects he’ll have mastered brushing his own teeth.

Related articles:

• Caring for your children’s teeth
• What’s baby bottle tooth decay?
• Sealants can stop cavities before they begin

Some information courtesy of the Academy of General Dentistry.

The oral health information on this website is intended for educational purposes only. You should always consult a licensed dentist or other qualified health care professional for any questions concerning your oral health.