To stop telling ds1 to clean his teeth?

[hiddenhome]

ds1 is 13 and I'm sick of reminding him to brush his teeth. He would never shower, comb his hair, brush his teeth, anything if I wasn't there to tell him to do it

I'm really sick of it, but I feel, in some way, responsible for his teeth. It's like they're my teeth because I grew them for him and he should take care of the damn things. He needs to value his teeth and keep them healthy to avoid fillings.

I just can't be bothered to constantly chase him about them. He needs to look after his own teeth now.

I have images of me having to phone him up when he's 25 to remind him to brush

hidden why not as your dentist about have that Pit and Fissure Sealing done? I'm sure they still do it, I asked about it for my DS, must check again at my next visit.

I'm waiting till my DS discovers girls ,I reckon his slovenly standards will go up a gear.
(Though he doesn't smell. I'm pretty sure he hasn't had a wash since Thursday -no school last Fri- but I can honestly say he smells like Little Boy. ie nice )

Teenager or not, he is a child insofar as he is below 16 and you're still responsible for his health and well being, legally and morally.

There was a guy at school with me who never brushed his teeth. I repeat, never. This came out in a sixth form biology lesson when he admitted he "just didn't like doing it" and so hadn't done it since early primary school. I for one hadn't inspected his mouth too closely before, but once you looked you could tell his teeth were decidedly furry. We're still friendly with him and the oral health situation has remained the same. Needless to say, so has his relationship status (single, if you needed to ask).

YABU - of course you need to remind him still, and keep reminding him until you don't need to and he does it as a matter of course.

I don't blame you BUT you will have to live with yourself if he ends up with loads of cavities later.
My parents left me to it after I was 7yo & I ended up with a mouthful of fillings.
I expect to keep nagging 12yo DS1 for a few years. Whether I will still have the same energy for nagging with younger DC, seems unlikely! I will burn out, for sure.

I'm sure it must be extremely tiresome to keep nagging but I wish my mum had made sure I looked after my teeth properly as a young teen. I now have ugly fillings in my front teeth :( Very expensive too

YABU. Why not baby him a bit to see if he gets the message? New "baby" toothbrush, and one of those special timers to make sure it's done for long enough.

I have to micromanage my 10 yo DSs personal hygiene still, get in the shower, brush your teeth etc, funnily enough my 8 yo DS is quite self sufficient, but DS1 is lazy by nature.

When I ask him if he's brushed and he says yes I smell his breath, if he's lying I ask if he brushed his teeth with dog poo because his breath smells like a dogs arse, usually raises a smile and a good brushing.

Something has happened to ds, he's 11. He used to be fantastic, focused and dirty laundry in the wash, never used to nag him about teeth etc. Now I also have to micro manage his personal hygiene. He can honestly have a shower, come down and when I ask him if he's used soap he will say ' Oh, I KNEW there was something I forgot!' Ffs!

Simplest solution is to stop buying anything acidic or containing sugar for him until he starts brushing them. If he sees his sister eating all the things he likes and he's got pasta with cheese and no sauce he'll think twice. Only milk/ water to drink, no crisps (dreadful for teeth), no sweets/ chocolate, no fruit, ice-cream etc, etc.

He's 13, has his own money to go buy fizzy at the shops whenever he likes!

Keep on at him. As somebody who's Mum didn't think dental hygiene was important I'm suffering for it now! I had numerous fillings before turning 18, have had one since and will need another again soon. I also have teeth a striking shade of yellow. I hate my mouth! :(

Where does he get his own money from - most 13 year olds rely on their parents for pocket money. Admittedly my own kids earn their money through sticking up for the local skittles team but they seem in the minority round here.

Well if I were OP I would just nag him to brush his teeth, would certainly be a lot easier than attempting to control how he spends every penny of his pocket money.
10yo DD has a mate who goes to the shop with 50p from grandparents which is plenty to spend on both of them. I could ban DD from going out with her mate, but then mate would probably sneak sweets to DD at school. Really, there is only so much you can control.