It is very important to maintain good oral hygiene at an early age. It is recommended to keep a child’s oral area clean right from their childhood. Learning and practicing good oral hygiene at an early age greatly impacts the child’s long term oral health. Here are a few brushing and flossing tips for your child.
Brushing Tips
- During infancy, brush your child’s teeth with a wet clean cloth to wipe the baby teeth that have emerged. It is best to avoid using fluoride toothpaste before the child turns one year of age.
- As they grow and begin getting more teeth, you can employ soft-bristled toothbrush to wipe their teeth clean.
- For children under 2 years, a smear of toothpaste should be more than enough. For children between 2-5 years, a pea-sized amount should be sufficient.
- For children below the age of 5 years, the amount of toothpaste used for brushing should be supervised by their parents.
- Children above the age of 5 should be capable of brushing their teeth themselves. Although they can, it is recommended that parents inspect their brushing to make sure they are reaching all the regions of their teeth.
- For effective brushing, ask the child to hold the toothbrush at an angle that is 45 degrees towards the gums of the lower and upper set of teeth.
- Now ask them to move the toothbrush in a small circular motion to reach food particles that are under their gum line.
- Make sure they brush their teeth gently and not too abrasively.
- Ask them to take at least 2 minutes to brush their teeth.
- It is important to make your child brush their teeth twice a day.
Flossing
- Dental flossing is used to remove food particles and debris that are lodged between the crevices of our teeth.
- Flossing is not needed during the infancy period of the child.
- The child can start flossing when their teeth start to fit together. This usually happens after permanent tooth eruption is complete.
- Children usually learn to floss on their own by the age of 12.
- Ask your child to pull a sufficient amount of dental floss from the dispenser and wrap the floss around their middle fingers.
- Ask them to glide the floss thread gently between their teeth and the gum line to pull out any food particles, debris or plaque.
- Tell them to use a new section of floss for each tooth to prevent reinsertion of food particles and plaque into the gumline.