Maintaining dental health has a huge impact on the growth and development of your child. Untreated teeth and mouth will trigger health problems. Dental and oral diseases that commonly occur in children's milk teeth are cavities or caries. Holes in these teeth cause your little one to have difficulty chewing food. As a result, children become lazy to eat and their nutritional needs are not fulfilled. Lack of nutritional intake can cause physical development to be disrupted.
Not only physical development, problems with gums and teeth can also affect appearance. Children can experience a loss of confidence when they meet people around them if their gums and teeth are not in good condition.
For this reason, you as a parent need to teach your child about dental and oral health from a young age. Experts suggest that parents get used to brushing their children's teeth since the first four milk teeth have grown. Gradually you can teach how to brush and care for your teeth so that your child can do it himself. Try to continue accompanying your child until he is at least 6 years old and guide him so he can brush his own teeth properly and correctly.
You can teach children to get used to brushing their teeth twice a day. When you get used to it, it will be easier for your child to brush their teeth regularly every day. However, sometimes this is a challenge for you as a parent. Children are often not interested and lazy to brush their teeth. But don't worry, there are a number of fun ways you can make your child brush their teeth diligently, such as the following method.
- Use cartoons and videos
Teaching children to brush their teeth doesn't always have to be done in the bathroom. Besides being prone to feeling bored, your little one may have difficulty following the teeth brushing technique that you teach.
As a solution, you can use cartoons and videos about the importance of brushing your teeth featuring funny characters but still educational. Currently, it is very easy to find videos and cartoons about children's dental health on various video provider sites. The videos and cartoons generally show the right and proper way to brush your teeth and also interesting stories about the consequences of rarely brushing your teeth. By watching the teeth brushing habits of the characters they like, your little ones tend to imitate them.
- Brush teeth together
Young children have a tendency to do what they usually see, especially what their parents do. You can use this to teach good habits, including maintaining the health of your child's mouth and teeth. Set aside your time every morning and before going to bed to invite your child to brush their teeth together. Try to teach the correct method of brushing your teeth so that your child gets used to practicing it until he can brush his own teeth in the morning and at night.
- Play a song while brushing your teeth
Brush your teeth ideally for two minutes. Unfortunately, brushing your child's teeth for two minutes can be very tedious. Besides being bored, children are also not able to count the two minutes themselves. As a creative parent, you can outsmart it by playing your little one's favorite children's song which has a duration of about two minutes while brushing your teeth. This trick makes the duration of the child brushing their teeth more accurate and prevents your little one from getting bored.
- Let the child choose the brush and toothpaste
Now, toothbrushes for children are specially designed with cartoon characters, superhero characters, and bright colors to make them look attractive to your little one. When buying a toothbrush, let your little one choose the toothbrush he likes himself. You only need to make sure the bristles and toothbrush size that your little one chooses are in accordance with the condition of the teeth and gums and the age of your little one.
Apart from toothbrushes, toothpaste with flavors specially formulated for children is also widely available in the market. Compared to adult toothpaste, which mostly has a mint flavor, children's toothpaste has a variety of flavors ranging from fruit to candy. To get more excited about brushing your teeth, invite your little one to choose toothpaste with his favorite flavor. However, you need to make sure the toothpaste doesn't contain fluoride which is harmful if swallowed.
- Give praise and prizes
If your little one has routinely brushed his teeth with the right method without being asked, you can give appreciation in the form of praise or even gifts. These praises and gifts make your little one more motivated to brush his teeth diligently in the future. No need for expensive gifts, just give your little one his favorite food or give him extra play time. The main goal is for your little one to get used to brushing his teeth regularly twice a day for two minutes.
Those are creative ways that can inspire you to teach your little one the importance of brushing their teeth regularly. Starting with brushing their teeth, your little one will get used to maintaining a healthy body from an early age so that he is not susceptible to disease and is more disciplined in his daily life. #LiveExcellently