If you have children, it is important to teach them how to take care of their teeth at as early an age as possible. The younger they are when they learn to take care of their teeth, the more likely it is that they will continue to do so as adults.
Even before they have teeth of their own they can watch, you clean your teeth. Seeing you get up and going off to brush your teeth after you eat is also good for children to see.
However, there is far more to teaching children good dental care than that. You need to be careful not to give your children too many foods that can rot their teeth. If you feed a baby a lot of sweet food, they will get a taste for it and it will be harder for them to avoid those foods as they grow up.
Some parents figure that the care of their child’s first set of teeth is not particularly important, because they will be replaced by their adult teeth. This is not true, children can still experience decay in their baby teeth. In addition, it will be hard to establish a good dental care routine once the child’s adult teeth come through.
Teaching Your Children to Care of Their Own Teeth
As soon as your children get teeth coming through you need to begin to take care of them. Use a small toothbrush to clean your child’s teeth twice a day. This helps them to get used to a toothbrush. As their dexterity improves, teach them how to clean their own teeth.
Supervise them and watch them until you are sure they have the technique down and are not missing any areas. Check how they are cleaning their teeth periodically after that. Kids often feel they have a lot of important stuff to do, so will pretend to clean their teeth rather than actually doing so, to get back to the TV quicker.
Take your child to the dentist every year as soon as their teeth come through. Find a dentist that specialises in taking care of children’s teeth if you can. They will put your child at ease, which will help to ensure that they do not develop a fear of the dentist.
To find out more about taking care of your children’s teeth visit the East Hull Dentist Practice website. If you are looking for a child friendly dentist in Hull, they are an excellent choice.
