Most parents don’t want their child to end up with cavities and will take basic measures to keep their child’s teeth clean. However, dental hygiene can still be an area that many parents need to brush up on. Certain mistakes could be causing damage to your kids’ teeth without you realizing. Below are just a few examples of dental hygiene mistakes that parents make with their kids (so that you can avoid them!).
Allowing kids to brush their own teeth too soon
It’s important to brush your kid’s teeth for them when they are still young, as they likely won’t be able to do it properly themselves. Between the age of 3 and 6, you can start to let kids brush their teeth, but it’s important to supervise them and guide them if they’re not doing it properly. Don’t let kids go into the bathroom and brush their teeth themselves without supervision until they’re at least 7. Young kids may get lazy and not brush their teeth properly if unsupervised. Some may even claim they’ve brushed their teeth when they haven’t. This is why supervision is important.
Letting them use the wrong toothpaste
You should also make sure that you’re giving them a toothpaste that is suitable for their age. Different kids’ toothpastes are made for different ages because they contain different levels of fluoride. Young kids shouldn’t be given adult toothpaste because its high levels of fluoride can be harmful if swallowed. The growing emergency of flavored adult toothpastes has made this more of a threat as more adults are giving kids fruit-flavored adult toothpastes which can contain too much fluoride for young kids. Stick to a toothpaste that has the recommended amount of fluoride for their age (toothpaste age ranges typically include 0 – 2, 3 – 5, 6 – 8 and 8 +).
Not replacing toothbrushes regularly enough
Toothbrushes should be replaced every 3 to 4 months. After this time period, the bristles can get damaged, and cleaning efficiency is not as good. Therefore, allowing a kid to use the same toothbrush for too long could result in them not brushing their teeth properly. If you think your child has been using the same toothbrush for too long, get them a new one as soon as you can.
Not booking dentist appointments
Booking regular appointments with a pediatric dentist is important – even if they don’t have any clear dental problems. This is because it can allow hidden problems to be detected early and corrected before they turn into something worse. For example, a dentist may be able to see areas of plaque build-up that could suggest a child is not cleaning a certain area of their teeth well. Brushing habits can then be altered to make sure that this plaque gets eliminated.
Allowing kids to skip tooth brushing
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is allowing kids to skip brushing teeth if they are too tired or it is too late. Doing this too often could get kids into the mindset that brushing teeth is a choice. This is why you need to enforce brushing teeth morning and night – so that kids know it is an essential part of their routine. The more you reinforce this, the more that kids will grow up not being able to go a morning or evening without brushing their teeth.
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