Practicing a consistent daily oral hygiene routine with your child can certainly help encourage them to maintain those practices into their adult life. At the same time, the American Dental Association notes that you can start brushing and flossing your child’s teeth as soon as they develop.
Encouraging a child to brush their teeth is usually easy. Giving them a toothbrush that features their favorite cartoon character and child-safe toothpaste is usually sufficient to keep them encouraged to brush each morning and night. Just make sure that the toothpaste has earned the American Dental Association’s Seal of Acceptance. This ensures that it meets specific safety and effectiveness guidelines.
Once your child is done playing at brushing their teeth, you can make an additional pass to ensure all the surfaces of their teeth have been cleaned. Sometimes small children lack the manual dexterity to floss their teeth with traditional dental floss. Providing them with a small floss stick can help them experiment with flossing their own teeth without the stress of manipulating an ungainly strand of dental floss. As their manual dexterity improves, they might become increasingly interested in flossing with standard dental floss.
Of course, their regularly schedule dental checkups at Kirkwood Dental’s dental clinic is also very important for tracking their oral development and maintaining the health of their mouth. If you live in the Campbell, California, area and you have concerns about your child’s oral health and hygiene practices you should call 408-378-8500 to schedule a dental checkup with Dr. Vinh T. Pham and his team.