Many children might find that brushing and flossing their teeth is ‘boring’ however looking after your teeth does not have to be a boring experience! Looking after their teeth can be fun, and at Morphett Vale Dental Care we are all about making oral hygiene fun for children because the more they enjoy it, the more likely they are going to do it. It is extremely important to establish good oral hygiene as early as possible because the development and wellbeing of their baby teeth will reflect their future oral health. Children who have poor oral health are more likely to develop oral health problems in the future. So that’s why we encourage to take the stress out of oral health and make it fun for your child. At Morphett Vale Dental Care we are advocates of prevention and setting kids up for life with good oral habits, hence we have put together a few ideas that can help you make their routine brushing FUN!

• Get creative with your tools… Dental tools such as toothbrushes come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Many toothbrushes you can get with your child’s favourite cartoon character such as Winnie the Pooh, Elsa from Frozen, Ben 10, Spider-Man, etc.
• Make a game of it… If it feels like a game then it is not really a ‘task’ your child might even start looking forward to brushing their teeth.
• Make a song of it… Everything is better with music, why not play your child’s favourite music while they brush or make up a fun rhyme to get them motivated to brush their teeth. There are also tooth brush that have songs or tune incorporated and played while they are brushing.
• Develop a reward system… now it would be a little redundant to reward your child with something like sweets for their good oral hygiene, because sugar is incredibly damaging to teeth. Try developing a reward system for your that is fun, like colouring activities, or a brushing chart with stickers, once they get older they will realise clean teeth is rewarding on its own!
• Find delicious tasting toothpaste…Variety is the spice of life! Experiment with different flavours, toothpaste is very cost effective and many taste delicious. There are kids that do not like the taste of tooth paste, why not get a different flavoured tooth paste and try and see if they like it.

Lead by example …. Children pay a lot of attention to what we do so if they see you having great oral hygiene habits they soon will too. 

If you pay attention to your child’s oral health early on, it can make a huge difference in their need for extensive and costly dental intervention in the future.

Studies have shown that many children who have good/excellent oral health during their developmental ages are less likely to suffer oral health problems in the future.

At Morphett Vale Dental Care, we are dedicated on helping families establish healthy oral habits with their children, in order to do this, we provide a child friendly environment, we make each of our smallest patients feel comfortable and at ease, so that they do not develop fear to the dentist.

We recommend that children visit the dentist as early as the age of three or when they cut their first tooth. It could be as simple as getting them on a ride on our dental chair and familiar with our team members.

Our dental therapist Jesse is highly qualified and experienced in treating kids. We strive and take pride on making your child dental experience fun, educating and exciting.