Teaching your child proper dental health habits can be a bit like pulling teeth. Most children will experience cavities at some point in their life but by teaching them good habits you can go a long way in helping them keep their teeth healthy and happy. In today’s blog, we offer some advice on how to protect your child’s teeth from damage and keep their dental health in check. We promise they’ll thank you later!

Teach your children how to keep their teeth healthy.

How to Keep Your Child’s Teeth Healthy: Tips From Your Olney Dentist

Start young

Proper dental care should begin once your child’s first tooth comes in. There’s no need for a toothbrush yet: Simply use a clean cloth to wipe the tooth clean at least twice per day. Children should begin brushing their teeth (under supervision until they understand how to do it safely and learn not to swallow toothpaste) around the age of 2.

Teach your children well

Children need to be taught to brush twice per day and floss at least once per day. This habit should be established early but it is important to supervise them to ensure they do not brush too hard or stop before the full two minutes. A great way to ensure that your children brush for as long as they need to is to teach them to hum a song to themselves while they are brushing. When the song is over, they can stop brushing!

Limit sweets

One of the best things you can do for your child’s dental health is to limit their intake of sweet foods and drinks. These products have a corrosive effect on the teeth and are one of the leading causes of cavities so by preventing your child from consuming overly sweetened products, you can prevent them from experiencing cavities in the first place.

Ensure they use mouthguards

One of the most common causes of dental injuries among children are sports. To prevent your child from accidentally chipping, breaking, or otherwise damaging their teeth during contact sports, invest in a high-quality mouthguard. These products are quite inexpensive, can be purchased from sporting goods stores, and will go a long way in preventing costly and painful damage to your child’s teeth.

Call Olney Dental at (301) 250-1057 or contact us online for an appointment. And don’t forget to visit Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube to connect with us on social media.