As a parent, you never forget the first time your child smiles at you. Your little one’s smile is precious and they will go on to smile thousands upon thousands of times throughout their life. Unfortunately, as we reach adulthood, many people begin to lose confidence in their smile and become self-conscious about its appearance. This can cause them to cover their mouth when they smile in public and to avoid smiling in photos. No parent wants their child to feel like this when they’re older. The good news is that it’s within your power to do something about it. Taking the best care of your little one’s teeth throughout their childhood is an excellent way to set them up for a lifetime of confident smiles.
In this article, we’ll share some of the many ways that you can help your child to develop a healthy smile for life by taking the best care of their teeth.
Start Early
Starting early is key to developing a healthy smile. The sooner you start looking after your child’s teeth, the less chance there is of them experiencing damage or decay. You don’t need to wait for your baby to grow a full set of teeth before you start to brush them. Instead, it’s something you can do as soon as their first tooth starts to emerge.
When your baby begins teething it’s worth shopping for a suitable baby tooth brush and toothpaste. This will ensure that you can start brushing once those first teeth breakthrough. Just be sure to brush carefully and in a way that’s appropriate for your little one’s age and stage.
Getting your child used to having their teeth brushed from a young age will make it such a normal part of their routine, that it’s unlikely they will question it and resist brushing their teeth as they get older.
Find a Family-Friendly Dentist
Many people wait until they have concerns about their children’s teeth before they take them for their first dental visit. This can mean that the first dentist visit is one that results in a child being in pain because they have needed a procedure, or an uncomfortable dental examination. There are a few different things you can do to make a visit to the dentist a positive experience.
The first thing to do is to look for a family dentist that’s truly family-friendly. Choosing a dentist that offers excellent service and understands that children may be a little anxious about visiting is a must, if you’re to make dental checkups a stress-free experience for your little one.
Once you have chosen a family-friendly dentist, it’s helpful to book your child in for their first appointment sooner rather than later. The earlier they start visiting the dentist, the more used to it they will become. Getting your child familiar with visiting the dentist will ensure that it’s not a stressful event, even if they do need to have treatment while they’re there.
Be a Good Role Model
A simple way to ensure that your children take great care of their teeth is to be good role model yourself. Modeling positive behavior is always a really effective way to influence the behavior of your children. Making sure that your children see you take good care of your teeth is a sure-fire way to encourage them to do the same.
Demonstrating that you brush your teeth at least twice a day, and showing correct brushing technique will help your kids learn the same behaviors. When they see their parents practice positive dental habits, it follows that kids will do the same as they won’t know any different. Establishing a positive oral hygiene routine will be just another healthy habit to add to their day. This enables you to teach your kids how to brush thoroughly and how long they should brush for.
As well as showing your child how take to care for their teeth on a daily basis, it’s also helpful to make trips to the dentist a family affair. Visiting the dentist and having your own checkup at the same time as your kids will help to normalize dental visits and demonstrate that it’s nothing to be afraid of, and just a regular part of protecting your oral health.
Protect Their Teeth
Working hard to encourage your kids to take the best care of their teeth with regular brushing and dental checkups is essential. But it’s also vital to take things a step further and to actively protect their teeth.
If your kids plays sports it’s important to assess whether they need to take extra steps to protect their teeth while they are doing it. Accidents on the sports field can result in missing and broken teeth. This can cause a lot of pain and upset for kids. So, investing in a mouth guard to protect their teeth is crucial if your kids play a contact sport. After all, you don’t want all that hard work that you have put into helping your child to take the best care of their teeth to go to waste because of one aggressive tackle or fall while playing sports.
When choosing a mouth guard for your child, make sure that you pick one that’s of good quality and designed for use by children. Ensuring that the mouth guard fits correctly is essential if it is to stay in place during their games and offer the best possible protection for their teeth.
Final Thoughts
Being a parent is a hugely busy job, and sometimes everything can seem like a rush. So, it’s easy to overlook the importance of caring for your children’s teeth. However, starting to embed positive dental habits while your kids are young is vital for them to be able to enjoy healthy teeth throughout life and smile confidently in the future. So, a little effort now to establish some healthy oral habits is a worthwhile investment in your child’s dental health that will last them for a lifetime.
A penny for your thoughts?