While your priorities as a parent are keeping your little one safe and healthy, their top goal is to have a lot of fun! This bridge can be gapped by making everyday activities that are essential to their well-being, such as brushing and flossing, more engaging for them. By bringing fun to their oral health routine, you are sure to encourage consistent dental care that will build long-term habits. This will ensure a healthy and beautiful smile for a lifetime! Read on to learn six ways to bring joy to your child’s oral health care practice.
#1: Let Them Pick Their Toothbrush
By allowing your child to choose their own toothbrush, they will be fully engaged in the process of caring for their pearly whites. There is now such a broad range of choices on the market now, they will have no problem finding their favorite color, design, or even animated character!
#2: Get Fun Flavors of Toothpaste
Long gone are the days when the only toothpaste flavor was mint. Now there are so many different delicious options, including fun flavors like strawberry, bubble gum, and watermelon. As long as the toothpaste has the ADA Seal of Approval to ensure its effectiveness, your child’s taste buds can also have fun while keeping their teeth clean and bright!
#3: A Dental Care Playlist
The joy of music can make even the most mundane things fun! By playing some engaging tunes during your child’s oral health care routine, they will begin to think of it as a fun activity. Be sure to include some of their favorite upbeat songs to play during brushing and flossing. You can even time the playlist perfectly by making it two minutes long so your little one brushes for the recommended amount of time.
#4: Kid-Friendly Flossers
Is your child hesitant to floss because it’s too uncomfortable for them? There are now child-friendly flossers, such as GumChucks. This unique game comes with characters, fun trading cards, and other items to make flossing more enjoyable and engaging for your child.
#5: Make Oral Hygiene a Family Event
As you well know, children watch everything you do and even begin to imitate your actions. This is why it’s important to lead by example when it comes to oral hygiene. By getting excited when you care for your own smile and demonstrating good habits, you will encourage them to do the same. Additionally, if you make it a family affair to brush and floss together, they will be sure to adopt healthy dental habits that will last a lifetime.
#6: Develop a Reward System
If your child still isn’t motivated by fun toothbrushes and an upbeat playlist, you can always begin to implement incentives. You can create a chart to track their consistency and print out pictures of the reward they’ll earn to ensure they stay focused. This will help them connect being consistent with their oral hygiene with a positive outcome.
About the Author
Dr. Michael Rullo and his team at Coral Kids Dentistry and Braces help keep the growing smiles of St. Catharines whole and healthy throughout every stage of their development. He completed his Doctor of Dental Surgery at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and is an accredited member of several dental associations, including the Ontario Dental Association. As a parent himself, he understands how important it is to make a positive connection for children regarding their oral health and is eager to be a part of that for your child. To schedule an appointment, contact him through his website or call +1 905-684-5437