Well-groomed and healthy teeth are not only beautiful, but also necessary for our body. Therefore, you need to start taking care of them even before the child has milk. And as soon as the first tooth comes out, it’s time to brush it. Many people believe that brushing baby teeth is not necessary, because they will change anyway. But actually it is not. Their enamel is weak, which means there is a high risk that it will be affected by caries.
It is worth noting that even breastfeeding in this case is not a panacea - after all, breast milk contains a certain amount of sugar. Therefore, caries can be found in any child, regardless of whether he receives complementary foods or not, eats mother's milk or artificial formula. There are many factors for the development of caries , and poor oral hygiene of a child is not the least of them.
- 2 When to start brushing your teeth
- 3 Brushes and pastes for children
- 4 Self-cleaning
How dangerous is caries for a baby?
Caries is dangerous because the child’s affected teeth become a source of infection, which spreads down the body and can cause very dangerous diseases. In addition, advanced caries is always painful; it is difficult to chew food with a diseased tooth. Of course, the dentist will help the baby, but, firstly, in this case the acquaintance is unlikely to be pleasant, and secondly, in some cases the baby tooth will have to be removed, and premature removal disrupts the formation of the bite, provokes curvature of the permanent ones, and contributes to speech defects .
To avoid such troubles in your baby’s life, you need to start brushing your teeth as early as possible. Of course, a small child will not do this on his own; parents must do this. Many people don't know how to do this or are afraid. A video that shows the process in detail can come to the rescue. You can also visit a dentist who will explain how to brush your baby's teeth using visual aids or various instructional videos.
The child does not want to brush his teeth: here are 6 applications that will correct the situation
Not all children accept that they need to brush their teeth twice a day. It would be nice to just clean it, but you have to do it correctly, and for at least two minutes. You can persuade children to brush their teeth, you can sing them a song about the importance of hygiene (there are many of these). But modern problems require modern solutions. For example, special applications for brushing teeth. They show how to do it correctly and entertain children in the process.
Disney Magic Timer
Google Play
App Store
This application is simple in nature, but it has cool content. The child must brush his teeth for two minutes (for this, a timer is turned on in the application), after which a picture with one of the Disney characters will open. There are cartoon characters, like Mickey Mouse and Cinderella, and movies (Hulk, Captain America, Darth Vader and others). Pictures are saved in the application album.
Additional characters can either be purchased in-app or obtained by scanning an Oral-B toothbrush from the Pro-Health Stages series.
Pokémon Smile
Google Play
App Store
In this application, children are asked to brush their teeth not just to get a card with the next Pokemon. There is a whole plot: you need to defeat bacteria and free the Pokemon they captured. Even during the cleaning process, children can “try on” caps in the form of cartoon characters on the smartphone screen.
There are also more practical functions. For example, you can choose the cleaning duration from one to three minutes. The application suggests which areas of the teeth need to be brushed, and after the procedure it gives advice from dentists.
It is possible to create three separate profiles. Even if you have one child, this feature will still come in handy. Because there are suspiciously many reviews of the app in stores from adults.
Philips Sonicare For Kids
Google Play
App Store
The application can be used with any brushes, but some functions are only available to those who have Philips brushes from the Sonicare For Kids series with support for Bluetooth version 4.0 and higher.
The developers came up with their own character named Sparkly. He gives advice on brushing your teeth and eating right, and you can also dress him up. If you wish, turn on music, voice advice in the application and set a reminder to change the toothbrush head.
It is convenient for parents to check whether their child remembers to brush their teeth, because there is a special section for them.
Brushing Hero
Google Play
App Store
Here children brush their teeth and defeat monsters at the same time. While cleaning, you can “try on” hero helmets. They are obtained in two ways: either they are won for defeating bosses that appear every 30 levels, or they are purchased.
And so that the child does not get so carried away with defeating the monster that he forgets about the rules of brushing his teeth, there is another important function: the force of attack on the monster changes depending on the angle at which the child holds the brush.
Brush DJ
Google Play
App Store
This is already a cool application not only for children, but also for adults. Remember how in the spring everyone advised to play music or sing songs to wash your hands long enough? This advice also works with teeth.
You can download music from your phone and streaming service into the application (as Spotify appeared in Russia just in time!) or use built-in songs. Brush DJ has short videos that will help you figure out how to properly brush your teeth. And many more reminders: about brushing your teeth, replacing your brush, using dental floss, and going to the dentist.
The app is loaded with research on dental care from the Department of Health in England.
32 teeth
Google Play
Finally, a very simple application. Because defeating monsters and collecting Pokemon is fun, but you can’t be distracted from the main thing. A series of short cartoons will show you step by step how to brush your teeth. The application wishes you good morning and good night and selects music depending on the time of day: cheerful in the morning and calm in the evening.
Read more on the topic
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When to start brushing your teeth
The first teeth appear around 6 months. Dentists believe that care should begin before they appear, since microorganisms always accumulate in the oral cavity, due to which various diseases can develop - gingivitis, candidiasis, stomatitis .
Therefore, your baby needs to regularly wipe his gums, tongue and the inside of his cheeks. In addition, the sooner oral hygiene begins, the faster it will become a habit for the child, and he will not be afraid of brushing.
It is best to start brushing when the tooth has erupted - that is, the tip has emerged from the gum. This is done
- brush,
- special fingertip,
- special wipes with disinfectant compounds;
- bandage/gauze swab (but not cotton wool!), moistened with boiled water.
But at this point, caring for your child’s teeth becomes a little more complicated:
- immunity in the oral cavity decreases during teething;
- A wound forms around the erupting tooth, the gums become inflamed, and care can be painful.
Therefore, it is better to choose soft products with disinfectant properties.
Review of cartoons
You've probably thought more than once about how to motivate your child to practice independent and regular oral hygiene. And at the same time convince of the need for visits to the dentist.
Most likely, you have already familiarized yourself with proven tips for preparing your child for a dentist appointment.
Now you have a pleasant task ahead of you - watch a selection of cartoons that we have compiled so that your child will unobtrusively learn two simple rules for healthy teeth: brush your teeth regularly and visit the dentist regularly. And also, so that together with our beloved and kind heroes we can stop being afraid.
So…
Tari bird.
A wonderful and kind Soviet cartoon about the fact that everyone has toothache - sometimes even the biggest and most formidable need the help of friends.
Lyolik and Bolik Bad Tooth.
New adventures of Lyolik and Bolik. This time they try in every possible way to remove Bolik's bad tooth - with the help of a dog, a motorcycle, a door and even a rocket, until they accidentally meet a dentist who, moreover, shows amazing tricks.
Krosh's new teeth.
The beloved hero of millions of children had a major problem: his tooth fell out! How can Krosh try the new carrot crop now? But, as in all good cartoons, a solution is found, although not immediately 
The Legend of the Tooth Kingdom.
The fairytale kingdom is attacked by germs and our heroes go to the aid of the queen, armed with toothbrushes and toothpastes. They are led by court dentists. However, the sorcerer Karies is cunning - he sets traps for them, luring them into the icy caves of the sugar mountain. Will our hero be able to free the kingdom from invaders and save the captured soldiers? Your child will have to find out.
Good Doctor Dentist
Your child will go to a planet where...teeth lived peacefully! And one day this planet was captured by the evil king Caries! Of course, the good Doctor Dentist is in a hurry to help, armed with a toothbrush and toothpaste!
Brush your teeth with Hello Kitty
The beloved cat Kitty one fine day meets her friend, whose cheek is swollen, and now he cannot play with the rest of the children, because he is in pain and needs to go to the doctor. This is all because he didn't brush his teeth! But why did Kitty suddenly get worried and run home? Something is wrong here…
Rabbit dentist
Your child will have a trip around the world looking for dazzling smiles. The rabbit dentist will tell you why you shouldn’t share your toothbrush with friends, where caries comes from, and what to do to get rid of germs.
Brushes and pastes for children
After six months, the baby’s ejection reflex disappears, and you can replace napkins and tampons with silicone brushes that fit on your finger, or regular toothbrushes with soft bristles and a cleaning surface of no more than two children’s teeth . With them, parents can carefully, gently and carefully clean the child’s oral cavity without causing him pain.
This is also the time to start using toothpaste. For the little ones there is:
- gel-like paste: it has a milky taste or is tasteless, does not contain abrasive substances, is recommended for children who are not yet receiving complementary foods;
- fruit-flavored paste: recommended for children already receiving complementary foods.
The importance of brushing your teeth daily
- Malyshariki
. The series is called “Brush”. In a playful way, it shows how to brush your teeth correctly. - Fixies.
The series is called “Toothbrush”. After watching this cartoon, your child will become familiar with the device of a modern electric toothbrush. Advice from Fixies: “It’s better to brush your teeth often than to have them repaired by the dentist often.” - Fixies.
The series is called “Toothpaste”. A very educational series not only for children, but also for their parents. This series tells us that pastes are divided not only into adults and children, but also that children's pastes also differ in composition, depending on the age of the child. The series also touches on the extremely pressing issue of how to properly motivate a child to brush their teeth regularly and correctly. - Three kittens.
The episode is called “This is how we brush our teeth.” - Lu Lu explores the world
– series “Brushing our teeth with Lu Lu”
The following cartoons will be useful for children aged four years and older:
About the loss of baby teeth
- Three cats, three tails.
The series is called “Milk tooth”. In this episode, Caramel's tooth begins to loosen, and the cat is afraid that she will be left without teeth. And my mother explains that this is normal, the tooth is temporary and a new tooth will grow in its place. And if the tooth does not fall out on its own (sometimes this happens), then the pediatric dentist will help, and then the tooth fairy will bring a gift for it! And what gift Caramel received from the tooth fairy you will find out by watching the episode to the end! - Peppa Pig.
The episode is called “The Tooth Fairy” - Luntik.
The series is called “Tooth” - the plot is similar.
December 4, 2022
conclusions
By the age of 8, children should be able to fully brush their teeth independently. If the habit has not been formed before the age of 11, then mistakes were made in educational approaches and training. One of the main ones is coercion. The fact is that, unlike adults, children do not understand the importance and benefits of daily hygiene procedures. They treat this as a duty and often resist.
You can’t force someone; this usually causes even greater protest. You can be persistent, but within reasonable limits. It is advisable to instill the skill of caring for the oral cavity at an early age. Children who are one year old already understand what is wanted from them. During this period of active imitation, they react with pleasure to everything new and interesting. Don't expect quick adaptation and results. The main task of parents is to convince them of the usefulness of brushing their teeth and not discourage them from practicing basic hygiene rules.
