Rewinding the Years: Dental Care Tips for Older Adults

Dental health is extremely important for everyone, but as a parent, taking care of your child's teeth is a top of the line priority; not only will taking care of their teeth ensure that they're healthy in the present, but it will also hopefully instill in them good dental habits for the future when they take care of their teeth themselves. So if you're wondering exactly the best way to teach your child the proper brushing habits while they're still young enough to let you help them, then here's what you need to know.

Keep Things Soft

As an adult, you probably power through your daily brushing sessions, eager to get on with the other thousand things you have to do – and that means that you're probably not as gentle with your own mouth as you could be. Your child's mouth, however, is not only much smaller than yours, but also much more sensitive. Granted, they'll be using a child's toothbrush (which are generally soft-bristled) but you'll also want to ensure you're using a gentle hand to brush their teeth; remember, you can't feel how hard you're pressing like you can when you're brushing your own teeth, and the last thing you want to do is hurt your child while you're trying to help them.

Make It Fun

Brushing can be slightly scary for your child, depending on how young they are, so the best thing to do for them is to make it into a fun time; if your child enjoys brushing, there's a better chance that they'll keep it up diligently once they're too big for you to help anymore, after all. There are plenty of funny songs made for brushing your teeth on the internet that you could learn, there are fun toothbrushes to be had, sparkly toothpaste…the list goes on and on for ways that you can make brushing an enjoyable time for your child – and a fun bonding time for you as well.

Do No Harm

The last thing you want to do is to give your child negative feelings associating with brushing their teeth – especially if you have a distaste for the practice yourself for any reason. This means avoiding any negative talk when it's brushing time – don't set up brushing as a chore that has to be gotten through before fun things can begin, and don't say things like "I know it's uncomfortable/gross/boring" when telling your child it's time to brush his teeth. Avoiding negative talk can help your child avoid developing a distaste for brushing, and that's important if you want your child's mouth to stay clean and cavity-free.

Check out sites like http://www.childrensdent.com and visit a pediatric dentist for more tips.