Teach Your Child to Brush Their Teeth

Oral hygiene, that is, daily teeth brushing, is essential for your child’s good health. Due to not having baby teeth or being very small, the first molars are more resistant and they can be given less priority. 

Mom, dad and the rest of the family members need to make sure correct brushing is taking place and that the little ones in the home brush their teeth properly and take good care of their teeth even when they don’t want to.

Here are some tips on teaching your child to brush their teeth.

Baby Teeth

Baby teeth, deciduous teething, temporary teeth, primary tooth eruption… This is the first teething that appears in human beings.

It starts around 6 months of age, in some much earlier, and goes along with humans throughout their early life up until about the age of 7 or 8 when they start to get replaced by permanent teeth.

These tiny, sweet little teeth allow children to feed themselves: biting and chewing food properly and thus preparing it for intake and breakdown during digestion. The same function that permanent teeth have for adults.

For this reason, baby teeth need as much care as the permanent ones do. Correct brushing is one of the behaviors that should be instilled in children from an early age.

Brushing baby teeth

Brushing baby teeth is a hygiene technique that makes it possible to clean all teeth, gums and the tongue.

If brushing isn’t done right or it’s not done frequently, plaque bacteria on the teeth will promote the onset of cavities.  

You have to introduce them to this routine and teach them how to brush their teeth the right way. Mom has to explain that:

• The upper teeth have to be brushed on the inside and outside, always from top to bottom.
• The teeth on the lower gum need to be brushed from bottom up, both on the inside and the outside.
• The tongue needs brushing, too.

When brushing is done as it should be, the film of bacteria covering the teeth is eliminated. The gums and teeth both remain protected.

Parents should teach their child that their teeth need to be brushed on a regular basis: after every breakfast, then lunch, dinner and before going to sleep, basically, whenever they eat any food.

Good oral hygiene

Good oral hygiene isn’t just maintained by brushing your teeth and putting regular, correct brushing into practice.

You have to know that many other measures are necessary to keep your child’s little teeth healthy and to be able to make use of them while they last.

For example, let’s say that the child needs to be careful of falling. It’s not that we have to overprotect or forbid them from playing with the other kids, but mom should be aware of the possible dangers that could put her little one at risk.

Baby teeth are vulnerable to breakage and chipping, which can become very painful if not properly treated. 

Also, younger people are given candies, lollipops, and sweets… very hard foods that they shouldn’t be biting into.

The mom who lets her children eat these kinds of treats needs to make sure that their teeth are thoroughly brushed after eating them. Also make sure that your child doesn’t bite into them other than with their canine teeth.

If this is true for you, give them mashed up hard candies or teach them that they have to suck on them and never bite into them or chew them.

Whenever your child complains or mentions that they are bothered by cold foods or foods that are too hot, take them to a dentist; it’s likely that they have cavities.

Cavities should be filled as soon as possible to avoid major complications. In addition, a child with cavities who is “bothered” by eating will stop eating like they should.

Finally, when cavities are present, even when they’ve been filled, the teeth are weaker than they were. If they are used to chewing hard foods, they can fracture or the filling can detach. Keep this in mind.

Mom, your child’s oral hygiene depends on how much time you spend on it and the guidance and training that you give your child.