- Image by Lutz-R. Frank via Flickr
Teeth! We love them! We need them!
Unfortunately, due to the typical American diet and bad habits, too many kids wind up sitting in the dentist’s chair for a bit too long of their young life. Here are 5 simple tips for helping to keep cavities, tooth decay, and additional dentist visits at bay.
1. Brush. This is pretty much a no brainer but also not as easy as it sounds. Little ones typically don’t like to brush their teeth so it’s up to you, mom and dad, to help instill the habit early so they’ll continue to do it even when you’re not hovering over them. Your kids should be brushing at least two times a day – after every meal if possible but at least in the morning and before bed. Brush your teeth with your kids to help encourage them to do it too!
2. Floss. Even harder especially for little hands, flossing is just as important as brushing but tends to get a pass by most adults as well as kids. When your toddlers are young, help them to floss by doing it for them. You can get floss pics at any drug store or grocery store to make it even easier (look for the ones that look like a wish bone with the floss running across – they work great. Let your kids try to do it themselves occasionally too but the important thing is to get them into the daily habit.
3. Limit sweets. Yeah yeah, I know you’re thinking this was supposed to be simple. And I also know that none of this is NEW news to anyone. They key here is to not let the sugar sit on your child’s teeth so if they do indulge, have them brush right after or chew on some sugar free gum like Trident.
4. Mouth rinses. When your kids are old enough to swoosh and spit, you can introduce mouth rinses to them to help with plaque and tarter build-up. Just make sure they’re not swallowing the rinse at all. Xylitol rinses are great because they loosen plaque and Trident gum contains xylitol too which is another good reason for using that as an option.
5. Drink water. Now there is an easy one! Encourage your kids to drink water, especially after meals where they know there isn’t a toothbrush handy to clean those teeth off. Again, keeping the food away from staying on the teeth is the goal so water can help to do that, at least until you can get to the sink to do a more thorough job.
Obviously beyond that you’ll want to make your regular appointments with your dentist to keep track of the progress of your child’s teeth but those appointments should be just standard and easy if you follow the steps above!
Happy smiling!
I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Trident blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.
About Trident® Sugar Free GumTrident gum has long been a pioneer in providing oral health benefits to consumers. Trident was the first gum brand of its kind to undergo testing in 1967 with studies showing that people who chewed Trident experienced significantly fewer cavities. Trident is available in 11 great-tasting flavors: Original Flavor, Bubble Gum, Spearmint, Tropical Twist, Watermelon Twist, Wild Blueberry Twist, Minty Sweet Twist, Passionberry Twist, Wintergreen, Strawberry Twist and Cinnamon. All flavors can be purchased in 18-piece packs and 54-piece multi-packs (three 18-piece packages).About Smiles Across America® (SAA)SAA is a signature program created by Oral Health America, a national non-profit organization dedicated to changing lives by connecting communities with resources to increase access to care, education and advocacy around oral health. SAA improves the health of elementary school students by supporting oral disease prevention services in school-based or school-linked settings, and demonstrating to communities that healthy mouths are integral to overall health. For more information, visit http://www.oralhealthamerica.org.
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