4 Surefire Ways For Motivating Kids To Brush Their Teeth

Let’s face it. Brushing one’s teeth is not high on the list of fun things to do for anyone, let alone your kids. Oral hygiene, though, is crucial to anyone’s overall health and should become an important part of a person’s daily routine. That routine needs to be established as a child even though it is difficult to accomplish. Here are four ways to help in motivating kids to brush their teeth.

Make It A Family Ordeal

Kids love to emulate what their parents do. One way to help motivate your children to develop good oral hygiene habits is to make brushing and flossing a family activity. Children will dress up in their parents’ clothes and pretend that they are a doctor, police officer, or whatever it is that their parents do. The same thing that drives them to play dress up will drive them to join in family oral hygiene. Doing it together will also give you, the parent, a chance to make sure that they brush properly.

Choose One Of The Many Kid-Friendly Toothpastes

There are numerous toothpastes geared toward children. They come in a variety of fun flavors that kids may enjoy, instead of the strong mint or cinnamon flavor of many adult toothpastes. When shopping for toothpaste, bring your children along and have them help in the choosing of their new toothpaste.

Allow Your Child To Select A Toothbrush

Just as there are many different toothpastes from which to choose, there are a number of toothbrushes that can help in motivating kids to brush more often. There are a multitude of themed toothbrushes like those modeled after superheroes or cartoon characters. Allowing your child to help in the selection of a toothbrush makes him or her feel important and that he or she has a role in good dental hygiene.

Try Music

When you and your children brush, turn on their favorite song and hum along as you brush. Music can help even the most restless of children pass the time. Children and adults should brush for a period of two minutes per session. Have your kids pick a song, or several songs, and turn one on while you brush.

As you can see, the idea is to make brushing one’s teeth and oral hygiene in general a little bit more fun. Allow your children to play a role in selecting their toothbrush and toothpaste, brush together and be a role model for good dental hygiene, and play some music while you do so. You will be amazed at how these four ideas help in motivating kids to brush their teeth.