Maintaining healthy teeth and gums and the battle of getting kids to brush and floss correctly is a constant and never ending parent “chore”. Never fear Orion is here and we have some out-of-the-box ideas to encourage better oral care in your child.
First Things First…Better Food Choices
This has to start with you and the earlier in your child’s life you can start this the better. Children generally become picky eaters because of the people responsible for feeding them…that’s you! Adults tend to pass on their own tastes to their children by feeding them what they were fed and avoiding the foods we don’t care to eat as much either. Let’s start by choosing healthier foods for ourselves and for our family!
Sugary foods are hard to avoid, they are everywhere and guess what? There’s nothing wrong with consuming them in moderation and at the right times. Try having them with your meals so that they are being consumed with good protein and are not the last thing left swirling around in your mouth. Who says desserts need to be last!
Get Your Kids Involved in The Food Decisions
Children love to learn and if they are included in the process of getting the food to the table they are more to understand why you make the choices that you make and be willing to follow along. Have your children accompany you to the market or grocery store armed with a list of healthy foods to get when buying the groceries. If you grow your own vegetables have them participate in that as well and carry that all the way to the dinner table. Children are much more interested in consuming foods that they personally “made”.
Another addition to that for younger children would be to have your child bring their favorite teddy or doll to the table to feed. If your child is still a little hesitant to try new foods they are sometimes more comfortable to try them if they’ve “fed” someone else first.
Brushing and Flossing = Healthy Teeth and Gums
Tired of brushing and flossing your kids teeth? We understand but dragging them to the dentist with a cavity or two to deal with is much worse and healthy teeth and gums start with you. The industry standards recommend that parents should brush and floss their kids teeth at least until they are 8-10 years old. This is challenging enough but try making it a fun experience rather than a chore by having a variety of toothbrushes and different flavoured toothpaste to choose from.
Use music, timers and rewards to help encourage children to do the work themselves but resist the urge to do something else while they are left on their own. Your help and supervision requires you to be right there with them.
We understand the frustrations of staying on top of the teeth brushing process can be exhausting. Just remember that you doing the work at home makes your regular visits to the dentist that much easier. Children who take care of their teeth have good experiences at the dentist and carry that through life. This is what we are looking for, this is what the work is all about!
Orion Dental is a full-service family dentist with offices conveniently located in Milton and Scarborough. We offer dental services for the entire family, and with our bright colourful waiting rooms and crafts to keep your children busy while they wait, we live up to our reputation of being The Gentle Dentist! Call our Milton dentist office at (905) 636 – 9770 or our Scarborough dentist office at (416) 291 – 0306 and book an appointment today!
