Every parent knows just how important it is that their children brush their teeth at least twice a day and floss daily. One more thing every one of those parents knows is just how difficult it can be to establish those healthy daily dental habits in your kids.
For your eyes only, here’s some tips for keeping your children cavity-free — perhaps even without them even knowing that’s what you’re doing at the time.
Dental sealant applied by a dentist near you
You may be familiar with dental sealants used to protect permanent teeth from tooth decay. Dental sealants near you can also be applied quickly, easily, and effectively to protect baby teeth from tooth decay. The sealant is a thick durable, and invisible barrier that can be applied to your child’s teeth in mere minutes.
Brush your child’s teeth as they sleep
If your child is still learning the best way to brush his or her teeth completely, you can sneak in one more tooth brushing after they’ve gone to bed and fallen into a deep sleep. Do be careful, though, when brushing and rinsing to eliminate any risk of choking.
Supplement your child’s brushing and flossing with tooth wipes
Sometimes your child will eat, drink, or even take medications after what you thought might have been the last tooth brushing for the day. If squeezing in one more round of brushing doesn’t make sense, tooth wipes can be an excellent alternative to leaving sugars or acids on your child’s teeth overnight. Most dental wipes contain a natural sweetener called Xylitol that can prevent plaque development.
Try disclosing tablets
If you and your child just aren’t sure how well you’re doing together to eliminate plaque, disclosing tablets can help — and even be fun. Disclosing tablets are chewable tablets that, once chewed, reveal where plaque is accumulating and pointing to where you and your child should focus while brushing and flossing. There are several brands of disclosing tablets available in drugstores and online. For a recommendation appropriate for your child, contact a dentist in Carrollwood for a recommendation.
Boost your child’s diet with fluoride
The American Dental Association recommends that children receive moderate amounts of fluoride — a naturally occurring mineral that helps fight cavities and even reverse tooth decay. You can add fluoride to your child’s diet in several different ways. Drinking water can be purchased with fluoride enhancements. Fluoride is also contained in many vitamins and toothpastes available at drugstores. If you have questions about the frequency or dosage of fluoride to best support your child’s oral health, a kids dentist near you can answer all those questions.
Assuming you can’t eliminate all the sweet treats…
Have your child take a drink of water after indulging. You may not be able to — and may not want to — eliminate sweet treats from your child’s diet, but you can reduce the risk they present to your child’s dental health by drinking water to remove any lingering food and sugary particles. Drinking water is not an alternative to brushing of course but can be a sneaky and immediate way of reducing the harm of those sweet indulgences.
Is your child headed to a party? If so, feed her healthily first.
You know that your child is going to be fed candy, cake, and ice cream — and maybe more — at every birthday party. If you’re not going to be there to keep your child away from those treats even if you wanted to, you can at least suppress his appetite a bit by feeding a healthy meal before he goes. And make sure he brushes his teeth before leaving, of course.
Children’s dentists in Carrollwood are here to support you in modeling and establishing excellent daily hygiene habits in your child. If you have any questions about how to do that — beyond these suggestions — don’t hesitate to contact a dentist near you. Their goal is the same as yours — to ensure your children have healthy teeth for a lifetime.