All About Dental

[thebusybee]

Hi Parents,


Can you share the most effective way/s to teach young toddler to brush teeth correctly?

My 22 mth son likes to 'brush' teeth - rather enjoy sucking the sweet edible toothpaste and biting the bristles which make the brush uneven. That worries me as it's merely going through the motion only.

I tried brush for him but i think he feels painful (maybe I used too much force to brush :nunchuk: )

I'm trying to get it right before he gets tooth decay soon as he eats many types of food already, and I can sometimes see veg stuck in between his teeth.


All methods are welcome!

:please:

p.s. I've yet to teach him gargle with water.

[thebusybee]

hquek:

You can call them to make appointment 64353782.


I can't remember when I booked mine but a notice say it's good to book 2 months ahead. That said, just try and see if something fits your timing.

22m/o seems a bit young, just make sure he know how to arrrhhhh (keep his mouth open) else could be wasted trip (?). The dentist was very patient in teaching my younger ds how to brush his teeth properly.

Thanks for the number, will call to check.

If it takes 2 months for appointment, then it'll be just nice when he turns 2 then.....

He can say arrhhh every morn when the CC assistant checking his throat after taking temp.... but i dun think can open mouth for long..

How old exactly is your son ? He understands the dentist's instruction ?

[hquek]

hi busybee,


Gargling will come later, just need to make sure they don’t drink the water.

Dentist said for their age group, just need to scrub sideways, and then for the frontal teeth (in/out - cos the space limited). Important to get the right age toothbrush, and soft bristles.

[mintcc]

thebusybee:

Hi Parents,


My 22 mth son likes to 'brush' teeth - rather enjoy sucking the sweet edible toothpaste and biting the bristles which make the brush uneven. That worries me as it's merely going through the motion only.

I tried brush for him but i think he feels painful (maybe I used too much force to brush :nunchuk: )

hianz, my almost four year old still hve that problem. Watching youtube video about brushing teeth helps for a while when he 2-3 though.

But now he have gone back to sucking the toothbrush in his mouth and refuse to upgrade to other children's tooth paste. Now I probably manage to convinve him to let me brush his teeth like twice a week. Wondering if getting an electical tooth brush will help?

[schellen]

mincy:

Wondering if getting an electical tooth brush will help?

It is not recommended for young children to use electric toothbrushes. They will go through stages where their teeth will have gaps and unevenness due to having milk teeth and permanent teeth at the same time. If you look closely at the brush head of an electric toothbrush, you'll notice that the bristles are all evenly spaced and of even height. (If you look at non-electric Oral B Stages series, you'll understand what I mean.) This is the case even for children's electric toothbrushes. Also, the motor of the brush will usually be at one speed only.

My DD was bugging me for one at Watson's cos she saw the Disney Princess and Wall-E versions. Luckily, I spied the samples of adult ones on display and took one down to show her. I turned it on and it went, \"BZZZZZZZ\" and the head spun round very quickly. She was intimidated by it and never asked me again. LOL (Personally, I have used them before as an adult but never liked them.)

[clarabella]

thebusybee:

Hi Parents,


Can you share the most effective way/s to teach young toddler to brush teeth correctly?

My 22 mth son likes to 'brush' teeth - rather enjoy sucking the sweet edible toothpaste and biting the bristles which make the brush uneven. That worries me as it's merely going through the motion only.

I tried brush for him but i think he feels painful (maybe I used too much force to brush :nunchuk: )

I'm trying to get it right before he gets tooth decay soon as he eats many types of food already, and I can sometimes see veg stuck in between his teeth.


All methods are welcome!

:please:

p.s. I've yet to teach him gargle with water.

Hiya thebusybee
My kids found it great fun, when they were about your son's age, to brush MY teeth. It's messy, of course, but for us it helped to reinforce the 'how to brush correctly' lessons.
It's also good to get a nice dentist to show them how - sometimes the message is stronger coming from authority!

It's quite natural for them to play with the toothbrush at this age. Perhaps you can try brushing his teeth together with him. My dentist friend showed me how to quickly brush, one side/row at a time, when kiddo opens his mouth to brush on his own.

If it's painful for him when you brush, check your toothbrush. Is it too big/wide? Or are the bristles not soft enough? My kids didn't do well on the Oxxl-x brushes when very young, esp stage 1, so we used narrower and much softer ones.

One thing you may want to note. My dentist advises not to brush immediately after a meal, as acidic foods soften tooth enamel. If you brush immediately, it expedites the acid's eroding effect on the teeth. Just get him to rinse out his mouth first. Wait about forty-five minutes/an hour before you brush.

As for gargling/rinsing and spitting out, I just show my kids how I do it, with great exaggerated motions. They especially liked to be asked to pretend they're the Merlion

[thebusybee]

Hi clarabella,


Thanks for the tips.

My son enjoys brushing teeth with me, he’s starting to do a bit of the brushing motion but i find it not effective. I’d exaggerate the expression ‘Eeeee’ and say ‘brush brush’ for him to follow, he’ll just go left, right then back to sucking, biting again, haiz.

I’ve just changed to the thinner type of toothbrush (found out the OralB one’s too broad). The baby ones are too soft as the bristles got out of shape easily. Any recommendation of which brand’s best?

I doubt he can take instruction or learn from the dentist at this age…

I ever do quick brush for him and still doubt the effectiveness, as mentioned food does stuck to his teeth, ever saw vegetable at his lower front tooth and gotta force brush him, ended up struggling and dislike me brushing for him.

Will take note about not to brush immediately after meal…

Actually I know i’m not doing the right order too… he’ll brush teeth, go to bed then…milk…'cause he fall asleep easier after milk… guess i gotta change this habit soon…

Very good on the Merlion part, I’ll show him this spitting statue one of these days.

The painful part - i guess i have ‘heavy’ hands, now trying my best to brush lightly. My thinking - brush harder more effective, haha! i forgot he’s still ‘tender’.

[Lauracwj]

mincy:

....
But now he have gone back to sucking the toothbrush in his mouth and refuse to upgrade to other children's tooth paste. Now I probably manage to convinve him to let me brush his teeth like twice a week...

May i know ideally around which age should we \"upgrade\" their baby toothpaste (from those non-floride) to those kid toothpaste (with floride and a little mentol)??

My girls are 2 yrs 7 months and 4 yrs. Should I upgrade them now? Will it be too early?

Does any one of you have any idea what is Aminfloride (http://www.elmex.de)? And, whether young childen with milk teeth are suitable for it? :?

[3greatkids]

I started brushing my children's teeth from as young as 5 months old - my 2 elder kids had their first teeth from 4.5 months- using the first teeth toothpaste and finger brush.


I still remembered how when we were in school, the sight of someone coming to the class with the dental card would turn all students into jelly, fervently praying \"not me, not me!\" and thereafter, developing into \"dentist phobia\" where when we step into adulthood, gg to the dentist occurs only when we have a very bad toothache.

I was adamant that this is not going to happen to my kids, thus, when my dd1 was 2.5, I role played with her about going to the dentist and told her how it would be a wonderful experience. I researched long and hard to find a good paedetric dentist and finally settled on GPA Dental @ United Square. No doubt it was expensive, (it was about 120+ for consultation and polishing) but I felt that it was money wellspent. The dentist spent time assuring my dd, showing her the equipments used and letting her test it on her fingers on how it would feel, etc.

When it was time for my son to visit a dentist (recommended that they go at 18-24mths), I brought him to the same place and reaped the same results. Both my elder kids have absolutely no phobia now abt gg to the dentists. At the same time, it serves as a good reminder for them to brush their teeth well. Sometimes when ds doesn't want to brush, we would tell him, remember what the dentist said? den he would obediently open his mouth to brush, haha.

However, having said that, it does not mean there aren't cheap and good alternatives out there. Having made sure that they are not afraid of the dentists, I brought them to the School Dental Service(SDS) subsequently and my eyes nearly popped out when i saw the bill... a whooping.....$24! for both children :shock: I felt that this is also a good place, albeit a longer waiting time for appointments but if there are no major problems with the child's teeth anyway, it's definitely ok.

A little more elaboration on the SDS. The SDS is the provider of dentists for all the schools and what a difference a couple of decades made! I remember school dentists as a fierce and rough bunch, but the SDS nowadays is definitely different from what it were in our times. They do spend time to assure the children as well. The environment is definitely not as conducive as it is separated by cubicles and there are no tvs showing hi-5 but the dentists were patient and stickers were given to the kids oh well, after all, I'm only paying a fraction of the price so who's complaining

I think other than having good dentists, preparing the children for the dentist visit is also very impt. If you spend most of the child's 1st 2 years telling him stuff like \"if you dun brush your teeth, I ask the dentist to pull out all your teeth\" it would be small wonder that in their little mind, the dentist is someone evil. Therefore, parents play a very important role in making sure that this kind of unnecessary threats do not affect them as well.

So would I be bringing ds2 to SDS or GPA when he turns 2yo? Definitely GPA as I still feel that it really is very important to build a positive impression during the first visit. As SDS is separated by cubicles, if it happens that there are screaming children in other cubicles, it might scare the little ones. JMHO

:celebrate:

[jedamum]

3greatkids:

A little more elaboration on the SDS. The SDS is the provider of dentists for all the schools and what a difference a couple of decades made! I remember school dentists as a fierce and rough bunch, but the SDS nowadays is definitely different from what it were in our times. They do spend time to assure the children as well.

Totally agree!
When my boy told his dentist about his teeth grinding problem, the dentist turn counsellor for a while and asked if he faced any problem with school work or friends and even told him to take it easy on peer pressure. and when i told her of my boy's fear of 'patching' his teeth, she reassured me that she'll gave him an earlier last time slot for the next appointment so that she can spend more time on him. :celebrate:
so different from our times.