Fun Oral Health Tips to Teach Your Kids

It’s important to teach your kids the importance of dental care. From selecting the right dentist in Hornsby to encouraging regular brushing, it’s extremely important for both their dental and overall health to enforce healthy dental habits. In addition to finding one of the best dental clinics near Hornsby hospital, there are other things that you can do to teach your kids the importance of dental health. These are some fun oral health tips that you can teach your kids for a healthier smile.

Teaching What Teeth-Friendly Food Is

As adults, you understand that things like candy and other sugary treats and drinks are not great for your teeth. However, kids may not care as much about this. That’s why you need to encourage them to make the healthy choices that they need to. One way that you can do this is by making the healthy food options just as easily available as things like cookies. Keep fruit peeled and cut up in the fridges or veggies so they can grab them and eat them. Help your children pick out healthy snacks at the grocery store. You can even try teaching them about healthy eating through playing with their toys, such as pretending to feed those carrots to their doll.

Enforce the Importance of Both Brushing and Flossing

Children need to be careful to brush and floss their teeth at least twice a day. This should be completed after eating breakfast in the morning and before going to bed at night. You need to be sure that they are brushing in a circular for a full 2 minutes. If they are younger than 2 years old, you should only use a very small amount of toothpaste (around the size of a grain of rice). For kids between the ages of 2 and 4, you should only use about a pea-sized amount. Kids that are 5 and older, stick with an amount that is equivalent to the size of a bean. You will need to help your kids with brushing their teeth until they are about 8 or 9 years old.

It’s a good idea to try out a few different options for toothpaste flavors. If the child doesn’t enjoy the taste of the toothpaste, they will be more likely to fight you about brushing. This should be a positive experience for them, otherwise they will be less likely to take care of their teeth.

Regular Dentist Visits

One of the most important things that you can do for your children is to make sure that you take them to regular dental visits. As soon as they get their first tooth, you should ask your paediatrician if they think it’s time to start visiting the dentist. This should be done whilst they are young. If you start them young with these dental visits, they will feel more comfortable and acknowledge it as a regular visit as they would their wellness visits at the doctor. This also allows them to build a relationship with their dentist to make them feel more comfortable.