Teeth Brushing? - Granbury,TX

H., I am a dental hygienist..so I have some "professional" advice. They should at least brush EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!!! Saliva is one of the things that keeps plaque in check..this drops by 30-50 percent production while sleeping.
So they will have a a full day's amount of plaque and then the saliva drops. It is a double whammy! If you have no dental insurance sometimes colleges that offer dental programs (both dental hygiene and dental) offer appoints at a very low rate (like 20 dollars). I know in my dental hygiene school also offered "sealants". Sealants are a liquid (kind of like plastic). We put it in the cracks on the chewing surfaces and cure it (make hard) with a special light. This only is beneficial to teeth that don't have decay yet. They might be a little young for this now but as soon as you can get them! They are one of the best preventive measures against decay on chewing surfaces. The cracks on the top of teeth are so small even a toothbrush bristle is to big to get into them. This type of decay is 78% of children decay areas. But you and the kids need to brush EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!
If my husband was not on board I would let him know when they need to go to the dentist at a young age, and suffer a possible fear of the dentist for the rest of their lives, he will have contributed to that. People are often under the impression that baby teeth are throw away teeth....just get them pulled new ones come in..without writing a three page answer as to why this is not true..they serve many many other functions. Plus if your children don't develop good oral hygiene habits now they are not as likely to take care of the permanent teeth either. Hope this helps!

2 times a day a flossing too would be best. They have little toddler sized flossers they can use as well.

I forget and sometimes, the kids fall asleep in the car or something and we don't want to wake them up when putting them to bed to brush their teeth.

Have your husband remember to brush their teeth before he goes driving. Many children have cavities by the age of 4, and even though they lose those baby teeth, the cavity can effect the adult tooth as well. Make sure your husband understands this.

Good luck!

Hey there. It's always good practice to get them to brush their teeth twice a day to prepare them for grown up teeth. We offer my son a quarter each time he does his and he loves to rack up the funds. Try feeding them carrots (you may have to partially cook these to soften them a little) and apples and things that might naturally scrub the teeth and put the food in little grab bags so your hubby will hand them food without any effort on his part. Don't feed them a lot of sugar products and that should reduce the trouble and also juices and milks before bed is not good either. Please ask your hubby to offer a glass of water before bed.
As for you, sorry to hear about your dental work. Me too. Something you should be aware of: NCS - Neuro Cutaneous Syndrome - it's toxic poisoning caused by the chemicals under your fillings. You may not even have a reaction until your forties. Anything from heart palpitations, muscular inflammations, memory fog, incontinence, poking, crawling (feels like bugs attacking you) on your skin and other minor things that would bring you to the doc. Keep this in mind as you get older. Many people especially women who have had dental work suffer from this and find no one has the answer or compassion which is so unfortunate.

So, preventing fillings is a very good thing but don't stress about it. When they are closer to four, the habit of brushing their teeth is more important to prepare them for seven and eight's new teeth and the kids will work with you when your hubby is not.
Good luck. PS: Don't let tooth brushing get in the way of you and your hubby being happy with each other. :)

H.! Oh my gosh, I am so glad you asked this. My husband has had TONS of fillings, but I haven't, so I didn't think my son's teeth might be like his. I brushed his teeth just once a day and thought that was fine until we took him to a pediatric dentist in Fort Worth last year when he was 3. He had to get 4 CAPS on all of his molars, and we felt awful!!! Our other baby was about 9 months old at that time, so we started brushing twice daily and flossing too. We actually took them to the ped. dentist in Granbury last week, and both of their teeth were great!!! I totally attribute it to the twice daily brushings/flossing as well as reducing the amount of crackers/gummy bear type foods he used to eat. The dentist said they really stick to the teeth and cause problems. BTW, our son had to have out-patient surgery to be put to sleep because he was so young, so even with dental & medical insurance, we were still out a ton of $$$$$.. Good luck, and hopefully your husband will start getting a lot more serious about it like I did.

I brush both of my kids teeth twice a day. Training toothpaste for my 18 month old and kids toothpaste for my 4 year old. We have been using kids toothpaste for my daughter since she was about 3.5. For her we also do kids mouthwash once or twice a day. After breakfast lunch and dinner my kids eat a California Cutie (clementine). I read somewhere that oranges help clean teeth after eating.

My husband's parents did not worry about their teeth and as a result they all have really bad teeth, so he is usually pretty good at brushing (although I don't feel he brushes their teeth long enough).

Texas Women's University up here in Denton does teeth cleanings for $20. It's something you may want to check into. I think having that done once or twice a year would also really help. There may be a university closer to you that does the same....not sure how far Denton is for you. You can also call your local WIC office and see if they know of any places that do cheap teeth cleanings.

I would do your best to make sure their teeth are brushed at least once a day, ideally twice. It is also important for you to help them. I was not good at helping mine and my youngest, age 3, got a cavity. It was very embarassing for me at the dentist to have a 3 year old with a cavity because there was no one to blame but myself. I am now brushing her teeth at least twice a day. My oldest kids are 6 and they do not have cavities. They were just brushing at night until this last dental visit and now they are all brushing twice a day.

You have received very good answers but I would like to add in my two cents.

My daughter had to get dentures and she is only 25! We were not good at getting her to take care of her teeth when she was little even though we (hubby & myself) we very adamant about taking care of our own teeth.

We (parents & grandparents) are very persistent in getting the granddaughter to brush at least twice a day. The sooner you can get them in the habit of brushing the better! We started brushing g-daughters as soon as we saw them break through her gums. She is four and sometimes this is the last thing she wants to do, but she has to. I took her to the dentist with me last fall and surprisingly, she had the start of two cavities!!

I don't know where you can find it on DVD, but there is an episode of Imagination Movers on Playhouse Disney that has Warehouse Mouse having to go to the dentist with a cavity and sore mouth. This combined with the dentist telling her about the two in her mouth and knowing her mother has dentures she is getting better about brushing.

Good luck!