Children have to clean their teeth since the first one comes out. When the mouthpiece is complete, at least three washes per day are essential. More than a thousand washes a year, and multiply by the own ones and maybe those of the little brothers ... It is not strange that it seems to us a relief that children brush their teeth alone.
We may think that with three years the kids can already brush their teeth without help, but professionals recommend that until children are six years old, brushing should be done by adults, and after that age you have to continue supervising the washing.
Tooth brushing is not as simple a technique as it seems, it requires complex movements that a child is not able to reproduce in full, no matter how much we teach him, they have not reached the evolutionary state that allows them to perform them well. For example, the little ones do not make the movements from top to bottom correctly, and first learn brushing with horizontal movements.
Teach, supervise and brush children's teeth
Hence the title to this post, since most of those who go through these pages have children under that age. Leaving children under six to brush their teeth alone (and always do so) is to run a high risk that teeth suffer from deficiencies in brushing, and plate appears, caries ...
But we have to start them in the practice of washing, and they will do it as follows. The little ones, with that brush position they would rub their teeth two and two horizontally (for all its faces, sides and grinding of the molars), covering the entire height of the tooth and insisting on the point where the gum begins.
A systematic route will be followed for each part of the mouth, as with the vertical brushing technique that will be acquired later, from the age of six, when the fine motor movements involved dominate.
In any case, I think it is important to encourage them to brush their teeth, and to let them do it alone in that way, at least in the first part of brushing, which we will supervise and complete later, repeating a correct complete brushing.
If they still do not walk, we can do it with the child lying on the changing table or sitting. Afterwards, children standing in front of the sink (on a stool, looking in the mirror) and their head resting on us will be a good way to wash.
Help them with dental floss
But our task does not end here. Recall that the advice for the care of baby teeth included flossing at least once a day, especially at night. Interdental cleaning once a day, with dental floss or special cleansers, removes plaque between the teeth, where the brush does not reach, and is essential to prevent periodontal disease.
Then, it should start flossing after the teeth contact each other, between two and six years of age, and although it may take several years to master the technique it is worth starting them.
You have to gently put the silk with pressure against the tooth, never against the gum, and pass between every two teeth, sweeping the side face of one and then the other tooth that form each space, from the gum to the edge of the tooth, not forgetting the back side of the last tooth on each side.
It seems like a lot of homework, but it doesn't really take too much time if we take the opportunity to do our own dental cleaning. The oral health of children well deserves the habit of brushing your teeth properly. And maybe we save some visit to the dentist ...
