Dental Tips for Toddlers
Wednesday November 1, 2006
I never understood why Dental Health month is in February. I think it should be in November.
Sure, there's a lot of candy then for Valentine's Day, but Halloween -- it's like a whole year's worth of candy all bagged up in just one day.
This is why you should use this sugar-laden time as an opportunity to teach your toddler healthy toothbrushing habits. Even baby teeth need care and you can start as soon as your baby's first tooth arrives.
Comments
I just have a question… does everyone have the same problem of your child trying to chew on the toothbrush instead of brushing? And how do you get him/her to open wide so you can actually brush the teeth instead of the lips? I’ve tried the kind of brush that goes on the tip of your finger, but he just bites my finger instead. ouch!
Try using 2 toothbrushes. I let my son hold one for him to use while I use one of those cheaper automatic ones on his teeth - which for me is a quicker way to get the job done. I realize those automatic ones say “ages 3 and up” but we’ve been using it since my son was about 20 months and it works great.
My dentist told me it was okay that she just bites on the toothbrush for now (she’s 16 months and we’ve been ‘brushing’ her teeth for awhile). Now that she is used to her toothbrush, she lets me actually brush her teeth for her.