Wash Wednesday: Brushing Your Kids Teeth!

Lately, I have been having trouble getting Judah to brush his teeth. As his two year molars come in, brushing has been hit and miss. What normally is a routine hygiene moment with our Thomas Train tooth brush and tooth paste has turned into a tackling session to even open his mouth.

A while back, I read this article a friend wrote regarding kids and brushing teeth. Being a mom and a dentist, Megan outlines the importance of parents ensuring kids brush their teeth. Here is what she has to say. To view the original article, visit Dental Public Service Announcement.

"I have been working as a dentist for just about 8 months now - not a long time, but enough to get a sample of the different patients that come to a general dentist. I generally see a couple kids a day on average, and the dental I.Q. of parents really varies. Today I saw five kids that made up two families - these are families at one end of the education spectrum. In the first family, there were two children, ages 4.5 and almost 3. When I checked their teeth, I found thirteen cavities in the older boy's teeth. In younger girl's teeth, I found none. In the second family, there were three children, ages 6, 10, and 12. I found 7 cavities and one abscessed tooth in the youngest boy, one cavity in the middle boy's teeth, and no cavities in the oldest girl's teeth. The moral of the story is that girls take better care of their teeth. Ha! Just kidding. No, seriously, what the two boys have in common is that both sets of parents think that their kids are capable of brushing their teeth on their own. It is frustrating to find so many cavities in such young children, and it is really easy to blame parents. However, I think it is partly the dental community's fault for not providing better education for parents. So, this is my PSA for parents on how to care for your child's teeth!"

1. Brush your child's teeth. If your child is not able to write in cursive, they don't have the manual dexterity to properly brush their teeth on their own. Encourage them to brush on their own, then check their brushing and give them feedback. There is a fun product you can buy called "Inspector Hector Plaque Detector" - have your child do their best to brush their teeth, then have them rinse with this mouthwash. The areas that they are missing will turn blue, so they can see where they need to improve. This isn't something you need to do every day, but it can be fun for everyone, even Mom and Dad, to see how good they are at brushing!

2. Brush your child's gums. Many cavities in baby teeth are found at the gum line, as this is where plaque or build-up accumulates.

3. Use toothpaste with fluoride once your child has teeth. Starting with the first baby teeth, use a small smear of fluoridated toothpaste (smaller than a pea). Older children that can spit can use more toothpaste.

4. Give your child milk at meals and water in between meals. There is no need to give your child juice as there is no nutritional benefit of juice - it is full of empty calories that can stunt your child's growth, and it can cause cavities! Even watered down juice still has sugar in it.

5. Please do not put anything but water in a bedtime cup or bottle. Milk, juice, Kool-Aid, etc. will coat their teeth all night long and feed the bacteria that cause cavities.

6. When giving your child a treat, pick something that they will eat and be done with it. Suckers, hard candy, grazing on M&M's for a long period of time - all of these will continue to coat your child's teeth with sugar, effectively feeding the bacteria for a longer period of time.

7. Take your child to the dentist for regular check-ups, starting at 6 months from when their first tooth comes in, or when they turn one. There are many dentists who don't want to see kids this young, and I get that. It's not easy, as many children are in the "stranger danger" phase and will cry when the dentist tries to look in their mouth. If you are consistently following the previous guidelines, you may not need to take your child to the dentist until age 3 or 4; however, for those parents who are unaware of how to care for their child's teeth, it can be too late if they wait until the child is 3 or 4. The bottom line is this: be proactive and look in your child's mouth when you brush their teeth. If you see dark spots, chips, discolored teeth, gum bumps or pimples, call up your dentist and have them take a look. It is so much easier to fix a little cavity than to deal with a hurting child with an infected tooth!

Megan is a second generation dentist, graduating from the University of Iowa with her DDS in 2010. More importantly, she is a wife and a mom of two little boys who understands what it is like to try brushing your kids teeth. For more reading on life with two boys, visit Brummers.