In our last blog, we talked about a fun way to teach your kids how to brush. While that’s a great first step in making dental care enjoyable for little ones, everyone at our pediatric dental office in Long Island wants you to know it’s only half of a proper at-home oral health routine.
We admit it, flossing isn’t always the most enjoyable task, but it absolutely needs to be done at least once a day. If flossing is ignored, about one-third of each tooth is not being cleaned and the chance for decay greatly increases. So how do you help educate your kids on the importance of flossing while making it fun? Stock up on some Play-Doh, Legos, and yarn.
Start by having your child dress up like a dentist if they enjoy playing make believe. This can help make learning feel more like a game.
Next, take an oversized Lego and fill the crevices with some Play-Doh. Explain to your child the bumps in the Legos are just like teeth, and the spaces between are like gums and the spaces in between each tooth. Take the hair brush and have your child brush the Lego teeth. They should not be able to remove the Play-Doh with the hair brush. When he’s done, show him the Play-Doh remaining on the Lego and teach him that this is what happens if you only brush. Then introduce the idea of flossing.
Unravel a piece of yarn and show your child how to wrap the floss around his fingers and work it in between each Lego tooth, loosening and removing the Play-Doh. When he’s done, he should have a close-to-clean Lego, or a clean smile.
In addition to a proper at-home oral health care routine of brushing twice a day and flossing once a day, maintaining appointments at our Long Island pediatric dental office is also extremely important to keeping Long Island’s most precious smiles healthy. If your kids are in need of a pediatric dentist, give us a call to set up an appointment today.
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