Is it a challenge to get your children to sit still for the recommended two minutes and brush their teeth? It’s understandable, given the repetitiveness of the task, but still, you want to instill this good habit in your children.

You probably tried to tell them about the harm they would do themselves if they neglected brushing their teeth. For their part, your children probably don’t want to see a dentist in Anchorage , or anywhere else, for that matter, yet fear alone cannot provide a long-term answer. Here are some ways that, our Anchorage dentist believes, can make children actually eager to brush their teeth.

Your children no doubt have some favorite songs that don’t exceed two minutes; you can play these during the time when they brush their teeth. Hopefully they start dancing to it, and before you know it, the two minutes are up.

Dentistry in Anchorage AK can be made comfortable for children, but it can’t be made into a game. Brushing teeth, though, is perhaps the only step in oral hygiene that can be fun. There’s no right answer as to which game to play, so be creative.

For example, many children pick up the habit if their parents brush their teeth alongside them; now, make that scenario more interesting by playing a game of “Simon Says.” It may take longer to get all sides of all teeth brushed, but it will pay off in the end. On the other hand, you could treat brushing teeth as a race, setting a 30-second timer for each quadrant of the mouth and adding some task or other that must be done before moving to the next quadrant.

Context is very important. Some children hate brushing their teeth because they associate it with bedtime, in which case one could schedule the duty for some other time: before bath time, for instance.

Any dentist in Anchorage would tell you that the type of toothbrush and the flavor of the toothpaste will impact your success with your children. Toothbrushes should be soft for the sake of children’s sensitive gums. As for toothpaste, avoid the mint-flavored ones that are overbearing to most children and opt for a fruitier one. Get different flavors and let your children choose; this empowers them and makes brushing teeth less of a duty that they must obediently carry out.

Call Us for More Information

Healthy Smiles Dental can provide dentistry for Anchorage AK and surrounding areas. Family dentistry is one of our specialties, so if your children need a cleaning or some other service that toothbrushing can’t substitute for, call today.

The post With One Anchorage Dentist’s Tips, Your Kids Will Learn to Love Brushing Their Teeth appeared first on Healthy Smiles Dental.