As parents we are supposed to teach our children about their bodies. We teach our loved ones on how to dress, wash their bodies, brush their hair, how to wash their hand after each visit to the restroom, and even to brush their teeth. But what if I told you brushing their teeth might be more important than you think.

Start an everyday habit with your child or children when they are babies. Yes, even though they have no teeth! You can simply take a wash cloth that is slightly damp and gently rub their gums ever night at bath time and every morning after breakfast. Once they start gaining teeth is when you can introduce them to a soft baby tooth brush. Once they are old enough to hold their toothbrush you can let them take over for themselves. In the process if teaching them how to brush their teeth, you’re also teaching them responsibility, which is a BIG plus.

I recommend making it fun for the child while learning. The standard time for brushing teeth is two minutes. Now, two minutes is actually a long time if you think about it, so here’s a few ways to make it fun for them.

• Sing a funny song to your child

• Dance to a crazy tune, but not too crazy

• Brush your teeth together and make silly faces

• Or simply set a timer and celebrate afterwards

Teach your children that it’s very important to brush their teeth every morning and every night before bed. The reason why they have to brush is to brush the yucky germs away. Yucky germs are food that is left behind in your teeth that causes bad breath and scary cavities! It’s also very important to teach them how to floss the correct way and if you are not too sure how to properly floss then that’s okay! Just ask your dentist or your child’s dentist if he/she can teach you. Don’t feel embarrassed because it’s our job to help educate you and your families on the correct way to manage your oral health.

Also, taking them to their six month checkups are very important as well. They do not just get a cleaning, but they also get an exam as well. Taking the x-rays helps us find any cavities if present so we can stop them from progressing into root canals or other dental options.

By teaching your children on how to take care of their teeth at an early age will majorly help them as they get older. They will not have to get root canal, extractions or even simply fillings. We can teach them the awful facts about sugar. Us as parents can teach our kids the importance on taking care of themselves not only for today but for the rest of their lives. Lets teach our kids the a healthy mouth is a happy mouth!