Children’s Dental Health Month: Making Brushing Teeth More Fun

In honor of our National Children’s Dental Health Month, raising awareness about the importance of oral health, we will look at nine ways to make brushing teeth more fun for your kids.

Most can agree that getting your children to brush their teeth is important, but it’s not always as easy as it sounds. Here are a few steps that might help:

1. Brush Your Teeth Together. Instead of making your child brush his/her teeth alone, go and brush your teeth with him/her, side by side. You can let your child mimic your brushing technique. Maybe you can throw in a little Simon Says with it too? Get creative. However, just being present and brushing your teeth alongside your child will make it more fun for them.

2. A Tasty Toothpaste and a Cute Toothbrush. Toothbrushes have diversified since the early 1900s. Now you have different color toothbrushes, different character and cartoon toothbrushes, electric toothbrushes, etc. Pick out a couple of toothbrushes at the store and while you are at the store let your child pick the one they want out of the options you give them. They’ll be excited to get home and try it out. You’ll also want to find a toothpaste that tastes good to them and they won’t snarl at every time they put it in their mouth. Just like with toothbrushes, the array of options we now have when it comes to toothpaste has increased as well. I’m sure you can find a kind they’ll like.

3. Saying Ahhh. Saying “ahhh” with your mouth closed is impossible. As they brush their teeth, get them to say ahhh with a different pitch, tone and rhythm to make it more fun and challenging.

4. Teddy Doesn’t Have to Miss Out on the Fun. Let your child bring their favorite stuffed animal into the bathroom with them so they can watch the child brush his/her teeth. Your child may even try to brush their teeth better as an act of demonstrating their skill to their favorite animal friend.

5. Count One, Two, Three. Children love to be entertained. Count their teeth as they clean them. “One tooth clean, two teeth clean, three teeth clean…” You’ll make sure they aren’t skipping around while also adding a bit of fun to the task.

6. Music Time. Whether you want to sing a fun song with your child or listen to some music, incorporate some tunes into their teeth-brushing time. It will make the time much more enjoyable, especially if you make up a silly song just for them!

7. Tell a Story. Maybe you can tell them a fun story during teeth-brushing time, but only continue the story each night when they go in to brush their teeth. Make it a simple but silly story they’ll love hearing.

8. Create or Buy a Sticker Poster. Hang a piece of construction paper on the bathroom wall that can display the stickers they earn each time they do a good job brushing their teeth.

9. Reading. Finally, start when they’re young and get them reading stories that talk about the importance of taking care of their teeth. Or even having them watch shows or fun cartoon clips that promote this.

Get started on these tips today and get your kids in the habit of brushing their teeth, not just because it helps their oral health, which impacts their overall health, but because it’s fun! Have you discovered some fun ways to get your kids to brush their teeth? Share your stories in the comment section below.

Natasha Gayle is the senior writer at 1Dental—a Better Business Bureau-accredited company that sells discount dental plans. We seek to provide affordable dental plans to those who are looking for a more affordable option for their dental care, and provide our customers and the general public with important dental and health tips they can apply to their everyday life at www.1dental.com/blog.

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