7 Tips To Teach Your Kid Flossing And Brushing

Having healthy teeth is very important. Good oral health plays the major role in relationships and social interactions. It also impacts the level of confidence and self-belief. So in order to make our kids happy it’s crucial to teach them how to maintain their oral health from the very early ages.

Brushing and flossing are your friends

Brushing and flossing are enough to maintain the perfect oral health. But unfortunately, only a small percentage of people actually knows how to do that properly.

Teach your kid the proper technique

While your kid is growing, you have to make sure she knows how to brush and floss properly. Once you showed to her how to do that, make sure you supervise her until she is 6-7 years old.

Supervise

Every once in a while make sure to review the teeth of your kid to ensure that she is doing everything right and there is no tooth decay forming in any area. If you spotted an area of concern make sure your kid fixes her technique to not leave any bacteria.

When you feel like your kid has mastered the proper brushing and flossing techniques, it’s time to stop supervising. But it should not happen earlier than 6-7 years old.

Here are some of the most important tips for the proper flossing and brushing technique to teach your kid.

How to brush

Use a safe amount of toothpaste. The toothpaste is very effective at cleaning the teeth and making the fresh breath. But it may also do harms if used at the very early ages. So it’s crucial to use the right amount of toothpaste.

At the ages < 2 years it’s recommended to brush teeth without any toothpaste. Use only water or non-fluoridated toothpaste.

For kids of 2-6 years old use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste.

And after your kid is > 7 years old it’s time to use the regular amount of toothpaste.

Brush twice per day. Toothpaste protects the teeth from bacteria only for 12 hours. So it’s important to brush twice per day. After the bed and before going to sleep.

Brush with 45° angle. The toothbrush has to be pointed at a 45° angle against the teeth. In this position, it hits both the teeth and the gums.

Brush for 2 minutes. Make sure your kid takes his time. It’s necessary to brush at least 2 minutes(max 4 minutes) to achieve good results.

How to floss

Use 18” of floss It’s recommended that your kid uses 18”-24” of floss. It’s just the right length that is enough to wrap the floss around your fingers and have enough length left to clean the teeth.

Move the floss properly. Make sure your kid knows how to move the string floss. There are few important points here:

• wrap the floss around the teeth in the C-Shape
• move back and forward to clean the teeth from plaque and bacteria
• move up and down along the teeth to make sure all the surface is cleaned

Hold the floss right. Make sure your kid holds the floss right if it’s a string floss. Wind the floss around middle fingers like it’s shown on the infographics and keep the ends in place with thumbs.

Conclusion

Knowing how to brush and floss properly is the most effective way to maintain a good oral health and have a happy life. I wish your kids healthy and beautiful smile and hope those tips will help them in achieving it.