Taking care of the general oral health of your family could sometimes seem like an impossible task. Especially in families with multiple children, the battle for good general oral health may seem never ending. As soon as one child brushes his teeth, another child is sharing a sugary snack.
As soon as another child gets done flossing, you find that the dental floss has been used to hang army men from the ceiling fan and the box is now empty. One child will only brush her Disney Princesses toothbrush and her brother insists on hiding it from her. The battle for good oral health never ends!
In order to keep your family on track with their oral health, you should keep these tips in mind:
Helpful General Oral Health Guidelines
- Make sure everyone in your family has their own toothbrush, and stress the importance of each and every person only using the toothbrush they are meant to.
- Make sure to soak each toothbrush in peroxide or bleach for at least thirty minutes to clean on a regular basis – but rinse well and wipe before letting anyone use them.
- Replace your brushes every three months or once they begin to show bristle wear.
- Choose only soft or medium brushes – hard bristled brushes may harm teeth and gums.
- Make it a habit to floss so your kids will follow suit – at least once a day.
- Sometimes brushing is not an option. In cases like these chewing on sugarless gum can help – just make sure it IS sugarless!
- After eating, make sure everybody in the family knows the bacteria and particles that can be left behind and how they may be harmful. Teach them how to counteract it too (when brushing isn’t an option) – water!
- Do you grind or clench your teeth? Try to break the habit. This is harmful to teeth.
- When you are brushing, you want to make sure you toothpaste is effective – so check for the ADA stamp when purchasing.
- Make certain your family is using a fluoride rinse twice daily.
- Visit your dentist regularly for dental cleaning, exams, and preventative care.
- Any issues with gums or teeth ought to be checked by a dentist right away – waiting can make it too late to save the tooth in question.
Don’t try to force most of these tips at once. Your family will probably not be able to make that many changes at once. You’ll want to be patient, and just introduce a couple a month until the habits are formed.