West Green Family Dental

21350 FM 529 Suite 400 Cypress, Texas 77433

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Dental hygiene tips for healthy teeth & gums

How to build healthy oral habits in children

As early you teach your kids the necessary steps to maintaining dental hygiene, the more you, and your kid, are benefited. This is so because then the child knows to take care of the teeth and can do his best to keep away the cavities and infections. Moreover, dental hygiene is a vast concept and has many components in it. It includes brushing and flossing as the primary activities and also the dental visits as the precautionary measure.

What habits have to be incorporated into them?
As already said, there is a lot to be done to make your kids responsible for the aspect of dental hygiene. They not only need to be told but also made to practice together so that they perform well.

Following are the activities to be taught:

  • Brushing and flossing twice a day: Brushing sounds like an easy thing to do. However, you not only have to tell the kids to brush their teeth but also help them do it for at least 2 minutes and in the right manner. This will be easily achieved if you make the activity a necessary part of their morning and evening. Along with the brushing, floss their teeth once a day to ensure complete cleaning.
  • Tell them not to chew everything: Children have this urge to chew things as soon as the first tooth erupts and even before that. But you need to tell them that neither thumb sucking nor the chewing will lead to healthy teeth. Hence, for their healthy teeth, make them understand that chewing hard objects like ice and candies can lead to damaged and chipped teeth.
  • Intake of a healthy diet: Parents need to discuss the importance of a healthy diet with the kids. Let them know the necessity of healthy food not only for the teeth but for their overall health. Make them accustomed to having healthy food from childhood so that they stay away from the sugary drinks and sticky food in their adulthood.

Ways to promote dental hygiene among kids
Teaching the desired dental hygiene habits to the kids at a young age is of paramount importance. This is the best time to naturally instill the habits in them so that they carry them forward. Below are a few exciting ways to do the same:

  • Let them learn by watching you– Children learn best when they see and listen to the things. So, initially, you can brush the teeth together and help them teach the habit forever.
  • Offer rewards and play music– You can make the brushing and flossing activities fun for the children by playing some good music or announcing a prize or gift on the completion of 2 minutes of brushing.
  • Frequent dental visits– Start Taking them to the dentist as soon as they have their first tooth. It will let them know the importance of taking early measures at the time of any damage to the teeth.

So, the kids are ready to adapt to almost anything when they are young. Utilize their zeal to encourage oral dental hygienic habits in them.

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