How to Teach Your Children the Importance of Good Oral Hygiene

Teaching your child the importance of practicing quality and careful good oral hygiene from a young age is an essential and solid investment in their long-term oral health. This will pay off for an entire lifetime, and will ensure that your child knows how to properly look after and keep their teeth healthy, as well as have an impact on other aspects of their health. Since bad oral hygiene can lead to a multitude of other health issues, teaching your children how to care well for their teeth can prevent other health problems from rising up. We’ve put together some great tips for teaching your kids good Salinas oral hygiene.

Set an Example

If as parents you rarely ever brush or floss your teeth, how can you expect your kids to? Children follow the examples that are set to them by mum and dad, and if you don’t practice good oral hygiene they will soon start to think that it’s not something which is important. In order to ensure that you child fully understands the importance of looking after their teeth, you should let them see that you take oral hygiene seriously. This could include letting them brush their teeth with you in the bathroom, taking them on visits to family dental practices such as Salinas Family Dentist when you have a check-up, and letting them ask the dentist questions.

Make it Fun

Kids love having fun, and if you make the ritual of brushing and flossing teeth like a game to them, they’ll begin to enjoy it and want to do it more often. Children’s toothbrushes are often designed in the theme of favourite television characters that kids can relate to, so getting your little girl a toothbrush with her favourite Hello Kitty character on it, for example, is going to appeal to her more than a plain old toothbrush like everybody else’s. When it comes to toothpaste, a lot of kids don’t like the minty flavour. Thankfully, you can buy a range of toothpastes in funky flavours that are designed to look after your child’s teeth just as well.

Schedule Regular Dentist Trips

Scheduling regular trips to a dentist such as Dr. Mark Washburn D.D.S. to have a check-up for both you and your child is a good way to ensure that they understand the importance of oral hygiene. The dentist will be able to give you and your children advice on how to properly clean and floss your teeth, and family dentists are usually used to working with kids and can give advice in such a way that it’s exciting for the child to listen to. Not only that, but having a regular check-up can also see if there’s anything wrong and determine whether or not there’s anything that your child should improve on whilst brushing. A regular trip to the dentist can intrigue your kids as they learn more about good brushing and flossing techniques – and not to forget the needed sticker for being good.

How do you teach your kids about oral hygiene?