How to improve Oral Health at an early Age
Many parents have experienced the refusal or resistance when it comes to brushing teeth, but it is important to do that, and parents play a major part in developing the proper oral health habits that children need. Parents can utilize these in order to improve their oral health, and there are different ways to motivate children so parents can encourage this. It also allows for proper care as well, so that children can get it without waiting about.
The first thing you as a parent must do is well, take care of your own teeth. If you want your child to learn, you need to imitate. From there, you want to get children excited about brushing their teeth. The best way to do this is to get them stuff that they want. Choose a toothbrush that best fits them, and if they like certain cartoons or colors, get that. The same goes for flavors of toothpaste. Obviously, they won’t’ swallow it, but if your child hates mint, don’t get them mint.
From there, you want to build a schedule. Schedule the time to brush your teeth, and make it consistent. Do it at the same time every single day to take care of your teeth. From there, you want to monitor how the children brush and give them any tips if they need it, or if they need help brushing and flossing, help them do that. Make sure that they do this for 2 minutes, and you can either make it so that they can see the hourglass, or if needed, get them a song that works for them, or have them sing happy birthday to themselves while they brush their teeth. After their done, you can praise them for their efforts, and reward them as needed. Rewards are powerful.
Now, you also want to push forward good nutrition. Eating raw veggies, fruits, water, cheese, and yogurt are important, and get them to avoid cakes, cookies, ice cream, sugars, candy, and sticky foods.
You want to begin this early on with children, and it’s one of the biggest things you can do with them. Starting oral care early, with the first visit happening before the age of one, can help children really benefit from this, and it helps promote proper overall wellness and good habits in every child.
Finally, you want to establish this right away, and make sure that you kind of make this fun. Children do fuss about this, but parents can use this as a chance to create a good set of habits in children. If it’s pleasant and entertaining, children will look forward to it, and creating a game out of this is one of the best ways to do so.
Being a parent can be hard, and if your child tends to not want to brush, it can be annoying, but following these tips will get them started right away on their future endeavors, and happy.
