to still brush my 8 year olds teeth?

[Clementiny]

If I leave him to it, he counts standing in his pants with the toothbrush in his mouth as having brushed his teeth. He knows how to do it properly, he just can't be bothered. Besides if he has a friend for a sleepover, I brush them for him. He is laid back and happy for me to do it. I feel better knowing they're brushed properly as he had to having a filling last year after a stint of him brushing them.

We stayed at MILs yesterday and she horrified to see me brushing them for him. She said he, and even my 4 year old, should be brushing their teeth themselves. I agree they should but they don't do it properly and don't mind me doing it so I don't see the problem. Aibu to still be brushing them?

We used to brush the kids teeth until they were around six (they would start and we would finish off). From then on, we would supervise, but would make all sorts of threats if they didn't do it properly.
No lights on for comic reading before bed etc (that was years ago before iPads etc). It probably sounds mean, but it did work.
It's a boring chore for them, but once the routine is established it does eventually kick in.

Our paediatric dentist said to keep brushing their teeth at least until they were 8 and then assess whether or not they had the fine motor skills, attention span etc to brush properly for 2 minutes. If not, let them have a go and then finish for them to make sure it was done properly.

Omfg real people surely aren't brushing 8 year olds teeth

I know a mum who regularly does this and I also do it occasionally (should do it more often really). No way in hell do i trust my 7 year old to do her's properly. I work in a school where we have children with fillings and rotting teeth at the age of 4! Now that's embarrassing.

Dentists advise brushing kids teeth til at least 7! My mum never made sure I brushed my teeth and I was lazy. My dad always checked with breath test but only saw his every other weekend because of the distance. I'm now literally paying for it and have had so many problems. My daughter is just over 2, first tooth at 4 months and we have to pin her down for her teeth, I am determined for her to not have same as mine, I hate my teeth and feel physically sick going to the dentist because of it. I don't want her to suffer

Omfg real people surely aren't brushing 8 year olds teeth

of course they are - on the advice of their dental professional - someone who actually knows about teeth...

We did our girls' teeth til 8, supervised til 11 and at 14 and 16 neither have had any decay or fillings, both get 10/10 for brushing from the dentist (went on Tue - took under 5 min and were told to keep up the good work).

Wish my parents had bothered.

Visited the dentist this week.

8 year old DS is fine, he brushes his teeth well.

7 year old DD ... I have been advised to start brushing hers myself again (was letting her do them herself but she's not been doing a brilliant job).

My dentist said to do it as long as the child will let you.

Electric toothbrush?

Much easier to reach all the teeth.

I'm a dentist DD is 7 she brushes on her own in the morning l do them after her in the evening, despite her willingness, personally l do not think I children younger than 8 have the degree of find motor skill and manual dexterity to brush molars properly, at this age they have some gaps some partially erupts teeth they are rarely in a straight line so harder than once have all adult teeth LSO wobbly teeth can be a bit sore when brushed so they don't and often mistaken the adjacent tooth too, my personal experience would suggest that most adults don't bring properly either.

The most common reason for a hospital admission for children under 10 is tooth extraction which could have been completely avoid in 95% of case by sensible diet and adequate brushing

Sorry re stupid autocorrect typos

DSS 12 tickles his teeth for 30 seconds and his breath stinks. I am not getting up to hound him as on mat leave and he certainly wouldn't let his dad brush them. He's gets sent back to do them again.

So you can probably conclude from this that 90% of people care enough to at least try to prevent dental disease. The other 10% don't care.
Maybe the 10% are the parents of the 35000 children a year who have to be put to sleep to have teeth removed.

Keep brushing folks, we know it works and it's minutes out of your day. As pps have said, the consequences of not doing so can be painful and expensive and they are almost always inconvenient.

My 6 year old usually does it on his own once a day (in the rush to get out to school) and I do it in the evening. I do think he does a pretty good job to be fair would totally wouldn't like to leave it just to him. With an 8 year old I would be edging towards this but if you're happy to do it, then it certainly isn't doing any harm.

I'd keep brushing for as long as they'll allow you to. Ours began to resist so we had to cede control, we've been lucky and neither DS has had a filling.

However, eldest DS, now 14, is a toothpaste dodger these days if he can get away with it. At his last checkup the dentist was so appalled by his dirty teeth he said DS had to go to the hygienist for a lesson in dental hygiene. He has braces again and we keep stressing how important it is to brush your teeth, but he is still happy to go for days without cleaning them. 😵😷 I don't get it myself, hate teeth but hate the feel of dirty teeth more. It means no going to bed until we've actually seen him wash his teeth. (Sigh)

So brush away for as long as you can I say.

Yanbu

10 & 8 here and I do them 30% of the time. Our dentist suggested it. I don't have fillings and I don't want my kids having them either.

A dentist told me that until they're 7, they're not dexterous enough to do it themselves so ignore the old bag. None of her business.

So you can probably conclude from this that 90% of people care enough to at least try to prevent dental disease. The other 10% don't care.
Maybe the 10% are the parents of the 35000 children a year who have to be put to sleep to have teeth removed

Haha nope, I do care, but they have never had any problems, the dentist is happy with their teeth. Only thing is, one needs some teeth taking out as adult teeth have grown and babies haven't fallen out, not really a brushing issue though is it.

I supervise my 6yo closely; electric toothbrush and a timer and then I give them a going over if I think he's been slacking. Generally pretty good though. I check with tablets.

I'm now feeling really guilty for occasionally letting my two-year-old crack on with it to avoid the nightly screaming hab-dabs when I do it. I kind of thought that if 9/10 nights I do it properly then it doesn't matter if the other night he just chews the toothbrush... And I was so hoping that I wouldn't have to do it at all any more in a couple of years!

A dentist would advise you to keep going. Try getting an electric brush with a timer and get him to brush his own teeth a couple of times a week, coz he does need to get used to it eventually.

We were told by the dentist to let them brush once a day themselves & then parents should help the other time (my DD is also 8).

I remember having to brush DS' teeth when he was asleep because he used to get hysterical about it. He's now almost 10 and only just doing it properly.

I would keep going, both of you do it. Our dentist recommends this. Surely keeping their teeth healthy is important, please don't worry xx