Children’s Dentistry is one of the most important services we provide at Riverside Dental Spa, as setting your children on the right path to oral health now will prevent dental issues in their future. As children across London get ready to go back to school, now is the perfect time for us to share some advice on how to keep their teeth and gums healthy. So, without further ado, let’s look at our top back to school oral health tips:
Get Your Child Into an Oral Health Routine
The last eighteen months has been incredibly disruptive, particularly to children who have had time being homeschooled and spent time self isolating at home due to covid cases in their school bubbles. With the excitement of the summer holidays now coming to an end and hopefully the start of a more settled school year, it’s the perfect time to reestablish those all important oral health routines.
By routine, we suggest:
- Brushing teeth twice daily - last thing at night before bed and at one other time during the day
- Using a fluoride toothpaste - containing at least 1,000ppm of fluoride
- Using a smear of toothpaste for under 3’s and a pea size amount for children over the age of 3
- Encouraging your child to spit out after brushing, but not to rinse as this gets rid of the fluoride and stops it from working properly
Make Tooth Brushing Fun
You’ve probably heard us speaking about this before, but if you can make tooth brushing a fun time, children will be more engaged with it and more likely to do it when it comes to them brushing independently. Try these ideas to help encourage your child to brush their teeth and enjoy it:
- Set toothbrushing time to music - find a song that is ideally around 2 minutes long and play it in the background whilst they brush.
- Let children choose their own toothbrush - there are plenty of character brushes to choose from
- We’re all used to video calls thanks to lockdown, so why not try doing a video call with other children in the family or friends and having a weekly tooth brushing session together?
Try These Top Tips
Children can sometimes find brushing their teeth awkward or difficult so to help them see what they are doing try:
- Using a mirror so they can see what teeth they might be missing
- Guiding their hand, particularly for smaller children, so they get used to the movements
- Using an egg timer to countdown the advised two minutes that you need to brush for
- Make sure children don’t run or jump around with a toothbrush in their mouths as they may injure themselves
Book in For Regular Dental Check Ups
Everyone can be forgiven for getting a little behind on regular check ups due to Covid, but now that the schools are returning it’s important to make sure your child’s oral health is also top of the class!
At Riverside Dental Spa we offer a friendly and communicative children’s dentistry service, based around informal appointments that allow our dental team to keep an eye on how your child’s teeth are developing, offering dietary advice and providing tips on keeping teeth and gums in great condition.
If you have any concerns or your child is due for a check up please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team and book an appointment. Whether you are a new patient or an existing one, we want to help your children develop great brushing habits for life and avoid unnecessary treatment. Call us today on 0800 0154 222 or click here to request an appointment for your child.
