Brushing up on kids’ tooth care
EVERY day last year 170 children had teeth taken out in hospital, shocking NHS figures reveal.
Sugary food and drinks are to blame for the epidemic in tooth decay. Here BBC Countryfile host Helen Skelton – mum of Ernie, three, and Louis, one, with rugby player husband Richie Myler – shares her tips for good tooth care in youngsters.
1. Don’t brush after breakfast My biggest challenge right now is getting my two sons to brush their teeth on a regular basis.
Apparently, it’s not a good idea to get your child to brush AFTER breakfast – because food softens the enamel.
So it is better to encourage brushing as soon as they wake up and a full hour after their last meal of the day.
2. Choose an appealing toothbrush and a tasty toothpaste When Ernie was about 18 months I tried to get him into the habit of feeling his teeth being brushed, either by himself or by me.
It is all about making it fun. So I chose a brush with a car on it.
At first he didn’t like the taste of paste so I’d put it on the brush and then pretend to wash it off.
We started with a strawberry flavour but now he seems to like anything minty.
3. Make tooth brushing play Ernie because it made it more of a family game. We use an egg timer and bet he can’t brush his teeth longer than the timer lasts.
4. Make sure your kids brush the right way Use brushdj.com to play two minutes of your child’s favourite music – great for getting kids to brush for the recommended time. Get your child to divide their mouth into four sections and then brush each one for 30 seconds. Encourage kids to spit out toothpaste after brushing but not to rinse away all the protective fluoride.
5. Encourage healthy snacking Britain has Europe’s second fattest population – disgraceful. This puts an extra strain on the already overstretched NHS.
My boys aren’t allowed any sweets but they recently went to a party and were given jam sandwiches. Not ideal.
But I don’t want to be the parent who snatches food out of my kids’ hands. balance and, anyway, I can’t hover over my children 24 hours a day for the next 24 years.
But I put good food out all the time – apples, bananas, rice cakes, cherry tomatoes. My husband laughs because they’re dotted around the house.
I’d much sooner they snacked on them than ask for a chocolate biscuit when they’re hungry. 6. Don’t use sweets as a reward I certainly don’t have a sweet jar which can, too often, be used as a reward if a child has been good.
In the supermarket I’ll buy them a kids’ magazine when we arrive and they’ll look at that as they sit in the trolley rather than pester me for sweets. 7. Get your kids used to regular trips to the dentist Ernie already loves everything about it – the special glasses, for instance, and the reclining chair.