Sponsored: The Whole Tooth

What’s the best way to ensure your children have strong, healthy teeth and gums? Work with them to develop good hygiene habits that they’ll take with them into adulthood. As soon as your little ones cut their first teeth, it’s important to include oral care in their bathroom routines. Initially, you’ll be doing all the brushing, but as your children get older (around age 2), you’ll want to encourage them to start learning how brush on their own.

Remember to teach your kids to brush for two minutes. Use an egg timer, or play a two-minute song so they know when time’s up. (Check out our app Today’s Parent Milestones App to download a song.)

Also ensure that they brush every surface of each tooth. Finally, go over all areas yourself after they’re finished to ensure that no tooth has been missed. Kids love routines, so make this a regular part of their morning and evening schedules.

Bathroom Routine Tip 1:

Hold the toothbrush at a 45-degree angle against the gums.

Bathroom Routine Tip 2:

Move the brush back and forth gently, using short strokes, over all surfaces of the teeth (remember the teeth at the back, and the back of the teeth in front).

Bathroom Routine Tip 3:

Watch that you don’t scrub along the gum line too hard, or you can irritate the gums.

One easy way to keep kids enthusiastic about brushing is to make it fun by choosing toothpaste and brushes that kids love to use. Look for toothpaste with fluoride that’s child-friendly, in flavours and colours that appeal to kids, like Kids’ Crest toothpaste. And choose soft-bristled toothbrushes designed for small mouths and delicate gums. Kids’ Oral-B toothbrushes suit little hands and feature popular characters kids love!

DID YOU KNOW?

Kids don’t have the manual dexterity for thorough teeth cleaning until they’re about 7 years old, so continue helping them until then.

Get the full range of kid-friendly oral care products from Crest and Oral-B at: walmart.ca/bathroombuddies