Setting a good example will help develop healthy oral routines for your family. Encourage the kids and allow them to see you brush and floss your teeth every day. Demonstrating how to brush with a technique is the best way to get them to follow your lead instead of just assuming they know how or by letting them figure it out on their own. Help them understand how long they should brush remind them to scrub every tooth and provide explanations to express the importance of this lifelong process.
As your dentist in Colorado Springs, we recommend you use tools that make brushing and flossing easier and a bit more fun by using electric toothbrushes, timers, and floss threaders, to show kids that dental care doesn’t have to be difficult. Allowing them to pick a toothbrush color or maybe a toothpaste flavor can also help get their attention and will lead to more involvement. If there are younger children in the family, brush your teeth together to start a good routine that they can eventually want to follow on their own by habit.
When you talk to your family about your visits to the dentist, be sure to use positive language so that the kids don’t develop nervous tendencies when it’s their turn to visit the dentist. Begin dental visits early to ensure you have taken a proactive approach to keep the teeth healthy and strong and to avoid unforeseen events. Committing to early childhood dental visits will help establish a better likelihood for your child to view dental visits as a routine part of life and a habit they’ll more likely continue into adulthood.
When you teach healthy eating for healthy teeth to your family, focus on healthy, tooth-friendly meals and snacks inside your home and outside of your home. When you make better food choices the younger family members are more likely to follow your lead. Try your best to keep ice cream, candy, sodas, juice, and other cavity-inducing foods out of the house to prevent mindless snacking. Encourage water with meals and express the importance of staying hydrated so they learn to not choose sugary beverages that can damage their teeth. Save those sweet desserts for after a meal to make it a treat and chances are that they are too full to finish an entire sweet treat.
Being a good role model creates better role models. Remember that children can have a positive impact on his or her friends, and eventually their own children, after all, building healthy habits is a domino effect.