Helping Kids Understand the Importance of Dental Health

The foundation for healthy permanent teeth in children is laid in the first two years of life. Extensive research has shown that poor diet, poor food intake and poor tooth brushing habits during these formative years are responsible for tooth decay later in life. And the development of caries in baby teeth significantly increases their development in permanent teeth.

Therefore, to ensure the development of strong, healthy teeth, it is essential to establish a proper oral hygiene routine. As their first teachers, parents are the key to setting a daily oral hygiene routine and ensuring children understand the importance of good oral health. Tooth brushing should be presented as an integral part of a child’s daily hygiene routine.

Start brushing your child’s teeth as soon as the first teeth erupt in the oral cavity (at six months). From age two, teeth should be brushed twice daily with less than a pea-sized amount of children’s toothpaste. Young children tend to swallow toothpaste, which can lead to dental fluorosis. To prevent this, children’s toothpaste has low-fluoride content. As new permanent teeth erupt, children should switch to toothpaste with higher fluoride content. This will ensure optimum caries protection for your child’s permanent teeth.

Modelling a good oral health routine for your child is perhaps the most effective way to ensure they take up the habit. Children (particularly young children) respond to praise and affection, and learn best by imitating their parents.

You should lead and supervise your child’s tooth brushing for the first 12 years, until they develop the necessary mental and motor functions to routinely perform a proper brushing technique alone. After brushing their teeth for the first two years, you will need to use playful motivation (i.e. “brushing your teeth is fun”) to encourage children to brush their own teeth.

Each time your child has finished brushing his teeth, you should re-brush the hard to clean areas, to ensure nothing is missed. From the age of six, children should be able to brush their own teeth using a proper brushing technique.

From the age of six until around 12, your child’s mouth is undergoing constant anatomical change. So, during this phase you should continue to help your child perfect his daily tooth brushing technique (until the eruption of the second molar, at age 12).