Did you know that most children spend less than a minute brushing their teeth?
Considering the amount of juices, sodas, and sugary snacks they consume, this doesn’t bode well for the health of kids’ teeth.
Brushing AND flossing are critical to cutting down on enamel-eating acid and bacteria that form in the mouth. To properly get rid of food particles and bacteria, parents should help their children brush their teeth, or make sure kids brush their own teeth for AT LEAST TWO MINUTES.
As for flossing, this should begin as soon as any of your child’s teeth touch each other. Children should be able to floss their own teeth by the age of 9. Until then, though, it’s up to parent to do the flossing.
Here’s the proper way to floss your child’s teeth:
- Take about 18 inches of dental floss and wrap one end around each of your middle fingers.
- Using your thumbs and index fingers as guides, gently slide the floss between two teeth, using a saw-like motion.
- Once at the gum line, pull both ends of the floss in the same direction to form a C shape against one tooth. Pull the floss tightly and move it up and down against one tooth.
- Pull the floss against the other tooth and repeat the motion.
- Repeat this for all of the teeth. Be sure to floss both sides of the teeth farthest back in the mouth.
As you can see, flossing a child’s teeth is much like flossing your own. As a parent, make it your mission to get your kids’ teeth off to a good start: Brush and floss their teeth daily, and visit my office regularly.
