Time to call out shit parenting!

I remember a public information type film being shown more than once at primary school in the 1970s. Then again, my mother and many of her generation had dentures. But because of this she did instruct us to brush our teeth at home because she wanted us to have all our own teeth, but we thought you only had to brush your teeth at night.
In this age there is absolutely no excuse to not supervise, encourage, insist etc on children cleaning their teeth at home - the information is clear, there are so many children’s brushes and toothpastes.
i guess the crap diet and frequent snacking and lack of access to dentists has taken its toll. I can’t understand a parent not caring though.

What's the point in 'calling out' shit parenting?

Shit parents don't care.

Yes, in the 70s kids did as they were told. They were kids not small adults with numerous choices. No one minded. It was normal then for the grown ups to be in charge. I hear stories of “so Timmy, what would you like to wear to nursery today?” Then a great hassle to get out the front door as the kid can’t decide. Well things should be decided for them. It’s called parenting

I don't disagree that parents should obviously brush their kids teeth / teach them how to brush their own, but laughing at the idea that the 80s were a pinnacle of sugar-free dental hygiene. Most of my peers drank squash or even coke with their meals, my parents were considered right old cranks for limiting us to water and not letting us have ketchup ("you're not covering that lovely dinner in sugary gunk!") or sweets. Everyone spent their pocket money at the corner shop on sweets (me included once I had pocket money) and we had puddings with custard after school lunch almost every day. We were also expected to do our own teeth much earlier than is now recommended and a quick scrub round which got the toothbrush wet and made us minty (but didn't do much else) was pretty normal as far as I could tell on sleepovers and school trips.

I agree, but I believe there has always been lots of parents that do not care about their DCs dental hygiene, my BIL did not brush his teeth as a child at all. I think the big issue we have at the moment is the lack of NHS dental places. Many parents cannot access a dentist for their child so the DC ends up in hospital when the issue has become severe. This is what the government needs to focus on IMO.

It’s something else for schools to do that doesn’t fall under their remit. The actual logistics of getting a whole class of 30 to brush their teeth is definitely longer than a couple of minutes. Where would this happen?? Most classrooms have one sink, can’t get 30 children and an adult around that. In the toilets? Hygiene nightmare with brushes falling on the floor. Also, who is cleaning the toothpaste spittle out of the sink? Also, supervising 30 of them brushing their teeth is more than two minutes. What about those that need more persuading? That’s more time.
Whilst all of this is going on the teacher and TA aren’t supporting their core jobs of teaching the curriculum.
Add this to teaching children to use a toilet, parents expecting us to support with sleep, behaviour at home and food issues at home. We do all of that because we know it impacts on that child at school and also because we want the best future for that child possible. However, it is draining and as people have said previously, an increasing number of parents are handing over responsibility for things that I consider bog standard parenting to the school and being very offended at any suggestion of their role to play in changing future outcomes.

I agree - why are they pussyfooting around it ?

It IS bad parenting. It is neglect.

That figure will include children like my dd who had to have a perfectly healthy tooth extracted surgically for orthodontic reasons. As the roots of her 5 and 6 were intertwined it had to be done under a general anesthetic we had no choice on that btw.
That said if a quarter of parents can't be bothered to toilet train their kids before they start school is anyone surprised that they aren't teaching them to brush their teeth

I fully agree that parents should be teaching children to brush their teeth, use the toilet and everything else along those lines. But as you say in the OP some parents are crap. The question then becomes: are we going to let children suffer because we (society) chooses to dig our heels in and refuse to step up for them?

I taught my children how to brush their teeth and use the toilet but my son who goes to a special school has had “lessons” (5 minutes a day tops) on teeth brushing in the past.

YANBU. My DD was born in 2020 and is the youngest in her year. She was toilet trained at just 2 and can brush her own teeth. There is absolutely no excuse for not teaching your kids these extremely basic life skills, though so many people blame Covid for their 4/5 year olds being behind. School is not the place for kids to be learning how to brush their teeth and use the toilet!

I remember at school (in the 80s) we were given a free toothbrush and tube of toothpaste, we had a nurse come onsite with those tablets that turned your mouth purple/blue and they showed us how to brush properly. This I would agree with.

I don't agree with teachers having to get children to brush their teeth at school. I have not seen the article but I presume this is what they are on about?

You are absolutely right. Well said.

I think it's partially genetic too. My whole side of the family seems to have gum problems. I floss (when I don't have braces), use interdental brushes, mouthwash and an electric tooth brush and have to do a whole daily routine just to stay on top of oral hygiene. Added to that I am now on my second round of braces because of what I call the familial cursed jaw line.

Meanwhile DH just brushes his teeth quickly twice a day and has never even had a cavity.

I agree OP and don't think it should be one more thing for school staff to do. I'm also sick of the word 'poverty' being used as an excuse for not teaching children basic life skills. Poverty isn't an excuse for crap parenting (unpopular opinion I know). When I was at school, a dentist would visit and check everyone's teeth. It was stopped because it was thought to be ineffective. But seeing as the state of children's teeth seems to have taken a dip, perhaps time to bring this back.

It's Naga.

Our nursery has rolled this out - whilst it’s great especially as tooth brushing is a battle at home and hopefully they’ll learn to enjoy it (tolerate it without screaming like banshees), it really shouldn’t be necessary. It takes 4 minutes a day to brush their teeth, it’s just part and parcel of parenting. You wouldn’t skip brushing your own teeth, so why skip brushing your kids.

I get it’s often a battle (like I say, mine hate it) but you just…do it 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

We did have some difficulty with teeth brushing for a while- toddler clamping mouth shut and crying about it, older child ok with the first stage toothpaste but trying to dodge the next stage with more fluoride because he thought it was too strong (we tried several brands). We got through both though and my kids teeth are fine, but it's certainly not as simple as just make the effort to teach them at home.
I think they benefit from the reinforcement of the message from another source. Whatever my daughters nursery did for their lesson on teeth it must have been inspiring as my daughter was role playing being a dentist yesterday 😂

It's an easy way to pretend you're a good parent. You can neglect them but then buy them sweets and drinks.

Totally agree - so many lazy useless "parents"

Mine all cried and refused their teeth brushing at one stage, afraid I just pinned them down and did it anyway - was non negotiable in my house. People have endless excuses but there aren't any really.

@CuteOrangeElephant Yes my child is affected by hypomineralisation. It's on the rise and they don't know for sure what causes it yet (although they think it starts during pregnancy). I know people see his teeth and judge me. He has excellent oral hygiene and we're regularly at the dentist with him but his teeth look like shit and we've been told there's not a lot we can do about it that we're not already doing.

That is interesting as this kid also gets ear infections regularly. I think it is probably hard to find the direct cause (clearly not enough research done on it as easier to make the parents the scapegoats). I do think more people should be made aware of it and it's potential consequences to cause dispute in figures like this where families are getting blamed - parenting can be hard enough, especially if your child keeps getting sick.

One of dd's friends would come round often, she was very fussy with food & wouldn't eat the carrots I'd served as they were the wrong shape. She proudly told me she eats vegetables once a week! Her mum told me she doesn't like water so won't drink it. We'll, she certainly did with me when there was nothing else available!

30 named little toothbrushes to store,three sinks. Four and 5 year olds picking up the wrong brush ,waving toothpaste around. Of course it would only take a few minutes says someone who has never been in a reception class !
Teeth are a job for home.

Last year my DD came out of school practically every day with a pack of sweets from the reward jar... I am by no means a parent that denies a treat now & again but it was too much. So that sort of thing doesn't help!

I think it's important to model this sort of thing to children, so teachers & parents can be helpful.