Family Dentistry Tips for Establishing Healthy Habits

In our family dentistry office, we have a unique position caring for multiple generations of the same family. We are able to teach our families that when you brush together you are likely to spend less time visiting with us for serious issues. While you may not literally “brush together”, the point is that a family must take the time to spend on learning about good oral hygiene and passing on those lessons to the younger members of the household. The better the habits, the less likely it is that we will be talking about cavities or other defects with teeth very often. We love seeing our patients, but if there was a choice to be made we would only see you but two times per year for an annual checkup, and a biannual cleaning because that would mean you were in good health. Our goal is to educated families so that they can have stronger, healthier, cleaner teeth.

From our perspective, being able to get involved with your children’s dental health at an early age is extremely beneficial. There are several reasons why we like the idea of seeing a child before they reach school age. For one, it allows us to start charting a course with the child’s long-term oral health in mind. We can catch challenges and problems before they become serious, and in some cases before they ever even occur which means we can prevent unnecessary future treatments. In addition, early childhood visits help to build a relationship between us, your family dentistry office, and the child. This relationship is one of trust which helps the child to relax and trust us in the event that future treatments are necessary. If you are one of those people who has an inherent fear of dentists, bringing your child in early will help alleviate that fear in them, which you will most certainly pass along otherwise.

For many families, the hardest thing to teach their children is the importance of regular tooth brushing. As a  family dentist, this is among the number one complaint we hear from concerned parents. Establishing a strong routine of oral hygiene is important, we understand that, and so here are a few way you may be able to get your child to be more engaged in the process.

There is an old saying, “monkey see, monkey do”, which applies perfectly to children. The more they see you doing something, the more likely they are to want to do the same thing. This applies to everything from what you eat to how often you brush your teeth. Try demonstrating great habits and your children will likely follow suit.

Too many parents try to make teeth brushing a serious affair. While nobody understands the importance of clean teeth better than our family dentistry office, we also know that kids are prone to do things that are fun. Try using story time, incorporated into the routine of brushing, where brave knights (the toothbrush) charge into the cave of doom (their mouth), to battle evil goblins (plaque). You may have more success with young ones this way.

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