To maintain dental health at any age, daily oral hygiene is extremely important. It would seem a simple procedure that does not take much time and does not require any extraordinary skills and efforts. But sometimes even adults are too lazy to do it regularly. What then can we say about kids? They don't even suspect such a need. How to teach a child to brush their teeth every day - morning and evening? What parenting tricks can you use to achieve the best results?
Baby 1 year old
At 1-2 years old, a child cannot yet brush his teeth on his own. But in order to develop a stable habit, this procedure can be carried out by parents until the baby grows up a little.
According to dentists, a child should start brushing his teeth when the very first ones have just erupted. For some it happens earlier, for others later.
But when the baby turns 1 year old, he definitely already has a couple of teeth in his mouth. And they require proper care. While the child does not know how to brush his teeth on his own, one of the parents does it for him using a special silicone brush.
Carry out this procedure regularly after your baby wakes up in the morning and before bed. This will be the initial stage of teaching a child to mandatory and regular brushing of teeth. And when your baby gets a little older, you can safely start teaching him to brush his teeth on his own.
The Tale of the Doctor and Masha
Once upon a time there lived an ordinary girl, Masha, very similar to all the other children, girls and boys. Masha was eating a nut one day and suddenly her tooth ached. This has never happened to Masha before. But the tooth started hurting and stopped, and Mashina’s mother only got upset and said that she definitely needed to see a doctor. Masha and her mother came to the doctor, as soon as they entered the office, Masha screamed: “Oh, I know, you are an uncle doctor in a white coat, you will treat me, I don’t like doctors!” “Well, I didn’t intend to treat anyone yet, I’ll just take a look,” the doctor answered and asked Masha to open her mouth. Indeed, he just looked and said: “Well, the tooth needs to be treated.” “I don’t want to treat anything,” Masha shouted in fear, “I’m afraid to treat!” I just won’t eat nuts anymore, just soft bread! But the doctor looked into her eyes and quietly calmly answered: “And if I tell you in detail how and what we will treat, and you understand that it is not painful and not scary, then maybe you will agree?” “No,” Masha said insistently. - What if I tell you that doctors are all a little bit wizards? We have magic pills, magic ointments and powders. For example, I will give your mother a magic pill of courage. If you are afraid to undergo treatment, your mother will give it to you and the fear will go away. - Are there really such pills? - asked Masha.
- And not only those. I also have magic water. The place where I spray it stops hurting for a while. So, if you come to treat your tooth, I will do everything so that you don’t get hurt in any way. Doctors generally always use this water or ointment when necessary, so the doctor cannot hurt you, only if it’s just a little bit. But I learned the most important magic from Santa Claus, because doctors and physicians learn magic even from him. But I will only show you what this secret is if you come to treat your tooth. “No, I’d rather not eat nuts anymore,” said Masha and did not treat the tooth. And on the way home, she kept wondering what kind of magic it was that Santa Claus taught the doctor. She was interested, but did not want to be treated at all. Masha definitely decided to just stop eating nuts.
Days passed, and, unfortunately, despite the Machine's efforts, the tooth sometimes hurt. Mom tried to persuade Masha to treat the tooth so that it would not hurt more, but Masha thought that she knew a way out. She stopped eating everything solid and sweet and asked her mother to cook only porridge or soup. Only, despite the Machine’s inventions, the tooth sometimes still hurt, and one morning it hurt so much that Masha cried: “Oh-oh-oh, mom, why didn’t you say that it would hurt SO much!” - Mashenka, I said that it could become very painful, but you didn’t want to listen to me. Let's go to the doctor, because he gave us a magic pill of courage just for this case. — Will the tooth stop hurting immediately? “I assure you, as soon as the doctor cures your tooth, you won’t even remember about it again.”
And mom gave Masha a magic pill. Masha didn’t know whether it was because of the pill, or because the tooth began to hurt very badly, she almost ran with her mother to the doctor. “Hello,” said the doctor, “well, the day has come to show you real magic!” First, I’ll sprinkle magic water in your mouth so that you don’t feel pain, and then I’ll touch it next to the tooth with a magic wand, cast a spell that Santa Claus taught me, and a magic snowdrift will grow in your mouth. And then your mouth will feel nothing but cold. Then I will clean your tooth with a magic machine, and I will seal the hole in it with magic plasticine, which hardens in less than a minute. That's all. Does this really sound scary? “Oh, it’s not scary at all,” said Masha, “just hurry up, doctor, otherwise your tooth hurts a lot.” She quickly sat down in an amazing chair, and the doctor did everything exactly as he said. And she actually felt like a magical snowdrift was growing in her mouth, and when it grew, the tooth stopped hurting. And it’s true, it wasn’t painful or scary at all. And then Masha realized that doctors really are real good wizards. And you guys, remember this more often, because there is no kinder and more magical profession in the world. And when you are a little scared to go to the doctor, ask your mother for a courage pill, because overcoming your fear is the most difficult thing, everything else is nothing in comparison.
Child 4-5 years old
By the age of 4-5, many toddlers have already developed a stable habit of brushing their teeth. And parents can begin to draw their attention to the quality of the procedure.
Be patient. You are unlikely to be able to immediately teach your child to take care of his teeth. And that's okay. Moreover, for several more years (approximately until the toddler reaches school age) you will have to control the process itself. Since the baby still cannot properly brush his teeth on his own.
Recommendations for parents
- Brushing your teeth should not be a routine task for your child. Let it be in a playful way. So that the baby wants to repeat the procedure again and again.
- At the initial stage of your child’s education, your priority is to develop a habit, and not to teach the correct manual skills (how to hold a brush and how to move it, how long to brush your teeth, etc.). First, the baby must understand the importance of what he is doing, become interested, be inspired, and only then begin to follow the process itself.
- Therefore, after your little one brushes her teeth, be sure to check the result and clean them. Explain that not all evil caries were driven away by the child. Next time, let him try to reach with a brush all the nooks and crannies where they might be hiding.
Your child’s healthy, white-toothed smile in the future depends entirely on your patience, your perseverance and responsibility in the present.
Forming your child’s skills and established habit of brushing their teeth depends entirely on you. Be patient and moderately persistent. Your reward will be your child’s beautiful and happy smile for many, many years. And the knowledge that it was you who helped preserve this white-toothed smile.
A fairy tale about a bad tooth
Once upon a time there lived a little tooth. It appeared quite recently and was a small sprout, the size of a claw. And they called it milky. Although he was small and cute, he was so stubborn and nervous that no one wanted to be his friend. “I don’t want to be dairy, but I want to be indigenous,” the kid was capricious. He really didn't like that name. “You will when you grow up,” his brothers and sisters persuaded him. “And now I want to be big, right away,” he squealed. Why are you so restless? - the elders marveled, looking at the baby. Everything has its time. On top of everything else, no sooner was the baby born than he fell in love with sweets, especially candy. But he didn’t refuse cookies and gingerbread either. Mine, mine,” he shouted with all his might, trying to try as many sweet and tasty things as possible. The adult teeth just shrugged their shoulders in bewilderment and turned away from the sweet tooth. “But you can’t have so many sweets at once,” a neighbor couldn’t stand it one day. But the baby didn’t listen, just “crunch” and “crunch.” How many times can you rip me off with brooms? - he grumbled, looking at the toothbrush. But the brush seemed to swallow its tongue and continued to roll over the teeth with its rough surface. “Don’t touch me, leave me alone,” came the long, whiny echo. … And suddenly. One day, the baby woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall asleep. “I have a headache,” he thought, closing his eyes. Oh no. It was as if a sharp needle had pricked the baby somewhere inside. “Oh,” he cried out from unexpected pain. And as soon as the baby opened his eyes, he simply couldn’t believe how big a black hole had grown overnight. But she wasn’t there just yesterday,” the kid tried to remember. And the hole, by the way, grew bigger and bigger each time, not paying any attention to the baby. Let me take another tasty pill. Oh, no, that’s wrong,” the kid stopped short, “not a pill, but a piece of candy—maybe it will make you feel better.” And then he reached for the sweets. But, having eaten the candy, he also managed to grab three gingerbread cookies and cookies. “He’s really a glutton,” the baby ate, watching his brothers and sisters sleep. I'm not a glutton, not at all. And then he felt that an invisible needle was stuck into him again. But I didn’t eat the needle, where did it come from? - The baby didn’t have time to think when he suddenly felt incredible pain in the hole. And the baby whined as hard as he could. Everyone woke up from his roar, from the smallest to the old grandfather. And they began to calm him, poor thing, and persuade him. As soon as the toothache subsided, every single tooth, including the sleep-deprived baby, went to the clinic. Some for prevention, and some for treatment. After the treatment, the baby became so healthy, so cheerful that even his pale cheeks turned red and rounded. A light appeared in his eyes, and he felt the happiest. And, most importantly, he realized that one should not eat too many sweets. And now he had so many friends that he was surprised himself!
Author: Vyacheslav Lapshinin
Video “When should you start teaching your baby to brush his teeth?” Komarovsky
- Author: Polina
Hello. My name is Polina. Having once heard the truth that a pediatrician is the main doctor for any family with small children, I realized that I had something to strive for. Rate this article:
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Cowardly Hedgehog and a sick tooth
One day, a little Hedgehog who lived on the very outskirts of a forest clearing, where a big, big birch tree grows - well, you know - had a toothache. Indigenous, the farthest. He had never had toothache before. The milk ones fell out by themselves, new ones grew to replace them, and everything was fine. And this tooth suddenly became capricious and got sick. The hedgehog did not say anything to his mother. I thought: nothing, I’ll be patient a little, it will go away on its own. He only told his best friend, Belchonok, about this. - What you?! - Belchonok immediately exclaimed. – You need to urgently treat this bad tooth! The hedgehog was silent for a while, then admitted: “You know, if I tell my mom about this, she’ll take me to the doctor, and I… I’m a little scared.” -What are you afraid of? - asked Belchonok. – I’m afraid that treating the tooth will be painful. “Ah-ah, I see,” Hedgehog’s best friend smiled. “I used to be afraid of this too.” And then he stopped. And do you know why? - Why? – Yes, it turns out that now doctors treat teeth without pain at all. - Quite quite? – Hedgehog was surprised. - Quite quite! - Belchonok confirmed. - Well, it doesn’t even hurt at all, not a bit. But if you don’t go for treatment, you may be expected to... what is this word called... my mother said it. Oh, I remembered: big problems can await you! And Belchonok told the Hedgehog a story about his grandfather. He also somehow had a toothache, but he did not go to the doctor, but decided to get treatment himself. I made an infusion of fir cones, added some herbs and roots, and began rinsing my mouth. So, it turns out, the old Owl taught him. Well, I rinsed and rinsed, but the teeth did not go away - they hurt. When he finally made up his mind and turned to a doctor for help, it was too late: the teeth had to be removed. And if he had come to the clinic on time, his teeth would have been fixed, and everything would have been wonderful. “And now my grandfather can’t bite the delicious nuts,” Little Squirrel sadly finished his story. “My mother and I have to do this - we have healthy teeth, because we take care of them, brush them with toothpaste every morning, and if they get sick, we immediately go to the doctor. Now we crunch nuts for grandpa, and he eats the grains. The Hedgehog thought for a while, and then asked Belchonka: “Weren’t you scared at all when you first went to the doctor to have your teeth treated?” The little squirrel answered honestly: “Well, just a little, of course, it was scary.” But only the first time. And when I realized that it didn’t hurt at all, the doctor and I even became friends. He's called a dentist. And now I’m not at all afraid of him, because he’s very kind. The hedgehog believed his friend and that same day he told his mother about his bad tooth. The next day she took him to that same kind doctor - a dentist. He sat his little prickly patient in a special chair, took out special instruments and began to treat the tooth. The hedgehog was still afraid for some time, he kept waiting - it would hurt or it wouldn’t. But, to his cheerful surprise, he did not feel any pain. And the very next day I felt completely healthy. Of course, he immediately ran to his friend Belchonok and told him about it. Don't forget to thank you for your good advice. And they again began to play together and jump over the fallen tree. And they even held a competition: who could quickly crack delicious nuts for Grandfather Belchonok. Since then, Hedgehog has never been afraid to go to the good dentist.
