5 Tips to Get Your Child to Brush

When it comes to brushing your teeth, it’s important from as early as six months into a child’s life — you should start brushing your child’s teeth as the first tooth comes in — but it could be difficult to get them to play along until they’re much older. That being said, there are things you can do to make brushing more fun, and even seemingly convenient, to your child.

At Rocky Mountain Smiles in Loveland, we provide family and cosmetic dentistry services that will help keep your and your child’s teeth healthy. If you’re looking for a kids’ dentist near you in the Loveland or Fort Collins’ area, then we’d love to be your choice. We’ve got your whole family covered, from tips and methods to follow at your child’s first dental appointment to putting in dental bridges or implants for the older members. If you’re having trouble getting your children to brush their teeth, read on for a few time-honored tricks.

How to Get Kids to Brush Their Teeth

One thing everyone knows about kids is that they can be fussy, particularly about things like hygiene. While they may be able to go a few days without cleaning the dirt off themselves, going a couple days, or even one, without brushing their teeth, and making a habit of it will catch up to them quickly. These ideas can help keep your kids brushing and their teeth healthy, and check out our infographic for daily tips that can help your whole family.

Supervise Them For a Set Amount of Time

Making sure your children brush could be as easy for some as just standing by and supervising. Setting a timer for a certain amount of time, probably somewhere between one and two minutes, and standing by while it happens is one way to make sure your kids are brushing. Eventually, they’ll likely get to the point where they brush on their own for a reasonable amount of time and they’ll wonder why you’re there.

Make It Family Time

When it comes to you and your kids, believe it or not, they most likely want to be like their parents, so just setting the example and expectation of brushing every morning could be helpful. One way to do this that’s particularly easy, is to get together for a few minutes of your morning and night routines for some family brushing time. If you start making this a habit before they reach a certain age, they may just take it as a fact of life, as something people do, before they ever ask “why” or try and understand the consequences.

Make Brush Time, Fun Time

If your child is being a little more difficult than strict supervision alone can handle, then it’s time to get a little more creative, and one way to do that is to make brushing time into fun time. Having a short dance party while you brush your teeth, either with songs that encourage brushing or just their favorite tune if they’re a little older, is a great way to engage your child in brushing without making it the sole focus. You could also make it a game, where your child gets rewarded. For example, create a tooth brushing chart for each week, and reward your child with something small when they fill out all their spaces for the week.

Inspire Them With Their Favorite Characters

One method that parents have been using with fussy brushers for years is inspiring them with their favorite characters. From Paw Patrol to Power Rangers, there are a number of hit kids’ television characters that have episodes, books, merchandise, that stress the importance of brushing your teeth. There are also a wide variety of toothbrushes that, along with featuring their favorite characters, may even encourage them with songs or recordings. It may seem silly to us, but your hero saying, “We did it, ya!” while they brush may be the push they need.

Give Them Gadgets

If everything else has failed, there are many innovative kids’ tooth brushing accessories and gadgets that encourage your child to brush or make it easier for them. There are apps such as the “T-Rex Toothbrush Timer,” toothbrushes that light up, play songs, or make a game of brushing, and even auto-brushing gadgets with fun characters tied in. While your child will need to learn at some point to do it without the motivation of ease or fun-time, these gadgets could at least be a step in the right direction towards better oral health for your child.

Start Your Kid’s Dental Care Off Right With Rocky Mountain Smiles

If you’re having trouble getting your kids to brush, or even if you just need a new dentist, bring your child into Rocky Mountain Smiles in Loveland. We’ll do our best to help get your kid brushing, but at the very least, we can help clean up all the things they’ve missed. Contact us today to set up your kids’ dentist appointment in Loveland!