Teaching Kids to Brush Their Teeth
Kids in general either hate brushing their teeth or they simply couldn’t care less.
However, it is important to teach your kids how to brush their teeth to avoid dental and other health problems. With a little patience, creativity, and a handy tool, you would be able to get your kids develop the interest to brush their teeth regularly.
Table of Contents
For Preschoolers
It is relatively easy to teach preschoolers, as long as it’s fun for them and is done through rhythm and rhyme. Let your kids know that there are germs that we can’t see living on their teeth and it’s important to get rid of them. You can even make a song about teeth brushing.
When teaching your kids how to brush their teeth, first show them the proper way to go about it. Once you have demonstrated the up and down, round and round process of brushing teeth, hand your kids their brushes and let them try. Use a safe kid’s step stool to help them reach the sink. Choose one that is self-retracting so that when your kids are done using the sink, the step stool automatically retracts underneath the sink and out of adults’ way.
Once they are able to do the whole brushing process themselves, make the event an exciting and joyous one. Clap and cheer for your kids. Tell your other family members how good the kids were and have them cheer for the children as well. Have your kids show other family members how they too can brush their teeth.
Things to do
Show your kids how excited you are about proper brushing, and get even more excited when they brush.
- Make brushing a fun experience.
- Ask them to show you how well they can brush their teeth.
- Make it a point to show other family members how good the kids can brush their teeth.
For Grades K-3rd
Kids of this age learn things through presentation and repetition. Offer your kids to watch you as you brush your teeth, explaining things as you go along. Come up with creative analogies: plaques are invisible bugs that eat away at your teeth. The only way to get rid of them is to brush your teeth properly and routinely?
Things to do
- Regularly offer your kids to watch yourself brushing.
- Be consistent with brushing schedule times.
- Come up with creative analogies or explanations about brushing teeth.
Grades 4th-6th
At this age, there is no better way to effectively teach your kids to brush their teeth than to show them what happens when a person does not brush routinely and properly his/her teeth. Gather pictures of people’s teeth which have serious decay. Or better, get pictures of people with rotten teeth.
During your visits to the dentist, teach your kids about proper brushing by asking for pictures of people who do not brush their teeth and explaining to them that it is what happens to people who do not brush their teeth routinely and properly?
You can also add that there are health risks when they do not brush their teeth. Some of these include gum diseases such as gingivitis (swollen or inflamed gums), periodontitis, gum infections, bone destruction, and tooth loss. It has even been found that gum disease is a likely risk factor for heart disease and stroke for adults.
Things to do
- Ask your dentist to share stories, pictures and information of the hazards of not routinely and properly brushing teeth.
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