Collaborative Post¦ Teaching your children to look after their teeth from an early age is critical. This seems obvious. But it is clear from Public Health England (PHE) statistics that many parents are struggling to do this. In the UK, every month, dentists are having to extract around 1,000 rotten teeth from kids who are aged under six.
Studies show that children who are taught to take care of their teeth, from an early age, have better dental health as adults. Because childhood dental health is such an important subject, we are going to explore ways of getting your kids to look after their teeth in this article – if you’re in the Surrey area, check out Weybridge dental practice.
Get your child used to being taken to the dentist at an early stage
A lot of parents are confused about when to start taking their child to the dentist. This is understandable because the advice they are given varies considerably. However, what the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry has to say on the subject makes sense. According to them, all children need to have had their first check-up by the age of one.
One of the reasons for this is that it helps your child to get used to visiting a dentist at an early stage. Often, children under the age of one are less fazed by going into a clinic and sitting in a strange chair than an older child is. They are more trusting. Provided everyone around them is calm, they will usually go along with being in what is a very alien environment.
Provided your child’s initial visits to the dentist go well, the chances are they will not develop a fear of dental clinics. So, getting their teeth checked every year will not be a struggle. It will become the norm and be a habit they continue into adulthood.
Set a good example
Setting a good example also helps. Usually, when your children see that something is important to you, they will feel that it is too.
Talk about dental health with your kids
Their dentist and possibly a teacher will talk to your children about dental health, but you should too. Reminding them of the consequences of not taking care of their teeth is wise. So, do your best to remind them regularly. For example, if they ask for a fizzy drink explain that they have to clean their teeth afterward. Occasionally, asking them why they have to do this is a good way of making them think more about how dental hygiene works.
Teach them to brush their teeth at an early age
As soon as there are signs of their first tooth coming through, buy them a toothbrush. There are plenty on the market that are designed for very young children to use. Most of them are two-part kits. You get one toothbrush for you to use to clean their teeth and another, usually a smaller one, that they can experiment with. Of course, they will need to be closely supervised while doing this. In fact, it is recommended that you watch your children cleaning their teeth until they reach the age of eight, or so.
Hopefully, the above tips will prove to be helpful. If you would like to learn more about taking care of your children’s teeth, reading this article, which has been written by health professionals, is a good idea.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.