The Dry Toothbrush Syndrome

An Easter Holiday Children's day at York Place today - great fun with some nice families.

We usually find that there are several common issues on these days, and today was no different. Todays big topic was :

"How on earth can I get (insert name) to brush his teeth. In fact how on earth can I get him anywhere near his toothbrush. He's 11 years old and its a constant running battle..."

Ring any bells? Here are some tips:

1. Firstly - have some comfort - its rife! You are not an inadequate parent and you are doing your best, which is fine. It will continue for about two more years until he discovers girls and hair gel.

2. Try good old fashioned nagging and ask your dentist to back you up at appointments. And stick at it.

3. Supervised brushing - get in there yourself with the brush

4. Mums - do as Mrs H does and threaten to kiss them in public - because nobody else will :-)

Here's a little bit of background from an excellent website - check out the link at the bottom if you want to know more...

How can I prevent tooth decay in my child?

The main cause of tooth decay is not the amount of sugar or acid in the diet, but how often it is eaten or drunk. The more often your child has sugary or acidic foods or drinks, the more likely they are to have decay. It is therefore important to keep sugary and acidic foods to mealtimes only. If you want to give your child a snack, try to stick to cheese, vegetables and fruit. Try to limit dried fruit as it is high in sugar and can stick to the teeth.

It is also worth remembering that some processed baby foods contain quite a lot of sugar. Try checking the list of ingredients: the higher up the list sugar is, the more there is in the product. Sometimes, these are shown as fructose, glucose, lactose or sucrose.Thorough brushing for two minutes, twice a day, particularly last thing at night, will help to prevent tooth decay.

http://www.dentalhealth.org/tellmeabout/topic/CaringforTeeth/Childrensteeth