How To Make Brushing Enjoyable For Your Kids
As every parent knows, getting your child to brush their teeth can be a challenge and with oral health on the decline in children, everyone from the best dentist London has to offer, to smaller local clinics, are seeing an increase in the number of visits per year. Thankfully, there are solutions to make brushing enjoyable for your kids and we’ve compiled just a few, here.
Personalise The Brush
One of the ways that you can make brushing enjoyable for your kids is through making their toothbrush as interesting as possible. With brands such as Playbrush manufacturing a brush that allows your child to play games as they clean their teeth and countless free apps that play music and provide a two-minute timer, there is an increasing number of ways to make brushing fun. Playbrush can be purchased in both an attachment for a manual brush and electric toothbrush options, both of which help to monitor your child’s brushing habits as well as ensuring no part of the mouth is missed.
Offer Rewards
Another way to ensure that your child enjoys brushing their teeth is by offering them rewards. By giving them positive reinforcement when brushing this will encourage them to brush regularly. Twice a day for 2 minutes can be a challenge for the little tots, especially when they’d rather be anywhere else but at the bathroom sink, but by adding entertainment and positive reinforcement, this can be made easier. Offer treats like daily stickers and set a goal at which they can be awarded a toy or a magazine to encourage them to keep up the good work. This can be done through the use of a chart or even a money system for older kids that understand it, to save up for larger toys and increase motivation.
Let Them Choose
By letting your child choose the brush or toothpaste that they brush with, it allows them to feel involved. This is vital, as this can also encourage them to want to use their toothbrush and show off the pattern to others. With brands such as Oral B providing character brushes including Frozen and Star Wars, it’s easy to encourage younger children, in particular, to brush simply as it mimics a toy. For those that do not like the flavour of toothpaste, there are also a number of flavours that you can opt for such as strawberry and cherry to encourage your child to brush daily.
Lead By Example
The most important way to make brushing enjoyable for your children is to lead by example. By having a parent or guardian brushing their teeth alongside them, it allows them to feel like an adult as well as allow bonding time for you and your child. By having their brush placed next to yours in the bathroom, it encourages them to brush with you and could even be used to encourage healthy competition to see who can brush the best. Although this may take time for your child to get the hang of, having a guardian alongside them will help to boost confidence and encourage regular brushing.
Dental hygiene is extremely important, especially in children and is something that should not be overlooked. By using the tips listed above, you can make the task of getting your children to brush and making appointments with a dentist in Greeneville much less taxing, allowing you to spend more quality time with them. Good luck!