How to Inculcate Healthy Oral Habits in Children?

Good habits are inculcated best when they start early! And what could be essential than making your kids adopt a healthy oral hygiene routine? Making them understand how important a healthy mouth is at a young age, makes sure that they always maintain oral health throughout their lives.

Here are some of the things children can do, right from their earliest days in order to inculcate a healthy habit of maintaining regularized oral hygiene.

• Use Video/ Reading Material:Teaching something becomes much more efficient when you are having additional support of audio/visual aids. These help you in accelerating the process of learning for your kids. These interactive measures can help you understand how your child will learn the benefits of keeping their oral hygiene maintained and in its upkeep.

1. Let Them Learn by Example: The best way to learn is by setting the right example. When you set a precedent for your children, they will follow suit with you. The best way is to brush and floss with them so that they can see the right way to do it. They will also learn the importance of doing the same when they see you do it and enjoy the whole process altogether.
2. Warn Them About the Potential Risk: The best stories that worked for kids, were the ones that had a clear good guy- bad guy anecdote. So when teaching kids the goodness of maintaining oral health, it is necessary to let them know about the flip side, when they don’t pay attention to their teeth. Although, let them enjoy brushing and flossing and don’t make it an activity they undertake out of fear. Therefore, learn to strike a balance.
3. Take One Thing at a Time: There are so many steps that are to be undertaken while taking care of your oral health. Take your time in teaching the procedure and importance of each step patiently. Start from brushing and then go on to flossing, each of these is imperative hence, making the child understand each is important.
4. Try Different Things for Toddlers and Different for Older Children: When your child is in the age group of 2-3 years, you need to try specific techniques with them. Use very soft-bristled brushes. Taking smaller steps, you need to maintain at least brushing twice-a-day routine. When it comes to older kids, use the same soft-bristled brushes that you need to replace every three months. Likewise, make sure that you make appointments with a dental health practitioner at least twice a year for your kids

•  Use Effective Rewards: Kids enjoy nothing more than being given rewards for good behavior. Rewards not only leads them to follow those practices but also helps in giving them positive reinforcement to continue those practices in life.

As they say, learning as a child is learning for life. So why should you let your oral health lag behind? If you have little kids, this is the right time to get them habitual to good oral health care routines. Make sure that you follow a schedule every day and you help them with it. Let it be the start to a great, shining, and radiant smile all their lives.

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