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?

Of course you're not being unreasonable to look after your child's health if they CBA to do it themselves. You could moan at them to do a proper brush until you're blue in the face and the teeth are littering the bathmat, but if an 8 yo can't be arsed to do something like this, telling them it'll all end in pain and decay is a fairly abstract concept at that age. My 8 yo is pathetic at brushing so if we suspect he's not done it properly, I or DH go in and do a quick and vigorous brush. Any complaints are met with 'do it PROPERLY then!'

AFAIK, dentists say most children aren't even capable of doing it properly until about 8/9 anyway.

My 9 year old does his own and so does my 7 year old. I supervise though and have been known to rebrush for them. However, they brush them very well and have had someone come into their school to show them and to tell them about the importance of brushing their teeth so they are very conscious about it. I had fillings in my mouth by the time I was 18 so no way want my children to go through that.

I was letting my 6yo do her own and got roundly told off by dentist for not supervising enough 😳

Supervise yes, but I think it's a bit much to be actually brushing them 😳

Not a dentist but several in our immediate family :) all advise brishing teeth for them as long as poss, let them brush for a certain amount of time (2-3 mins) then 'check' them - another minute or so if you brushing for them.

If it helps another pedodontist friend said they can't start to have any independence in brushing till they can at least tie their shoelaces

My 8yr old does his own in the morning and then we do for him before bed. We'll do it like that until he insists otherwise (or if he turns 18 but I have a feeling it'll happen before then )

kingpin are you one of the politicians who think expert advice is overrated? Just curious. The number one reason for a child to have an elective GA... tooth decay. Which is almost always preventable. It's a no brainer to me...

No!!! I always brush my 8 year olds teeth at night and let her do the morning brush, a compromise

I'd quite like to brush my sons teeth for him. He's 21 next June. Scuzzy git

Mrs Morton just giving my opinion like everyone else. I'd just never heard of it before at that age that's all, but then we've been abroad most of their lives so different advice I guess. My eldest , 14, started her own around age 4, with supervision of course and none of my 4 have any cavities or fillings. Definately go with the professional advise! Mine don't (or didn't when young anyway) eat a lot of processed sugar so that's most likely helped a lot.

I do/did care about my children's teeth. So I taught them to brush and floss and supervised them until I felt they got it right. (Had red disclosing tablets on hand for occasions when I felt they were slack) My children are adults and they, like me, have an annual visit to the dentist where we have a check up, professional clean and fluoride treatment. None of us has a single filling.

Orthodontic extractions are not really the reason under 10's have teeth extracted ( there may be the odd case) most extractions for orthodontics are around the ages of 11-15 and would normally be with local anaesthetic not hospital admissions for GA

GA for dental extractions is the top reason for children under 10 being admitted to hospital less than 10% will be for reasons other than gross decay ( ie trauma the very few that need early orthodontic extractions)
In Scotland it is rare for children over 6-7 to be offered GA unless several teeth involved the presumption is for NT children over 7 that extractions would be with local, referring 4 year olds for extractions of 8-12 unsaveable grossly decayed teeth is not one of the highlights of my job

There are still parents who come to surgery with kid in pain and say " just rip it out" these words do not help a child even if extraction is what is required

Yanbu. Try an electric toothbrush though. He may find using this easier and they are very good.

Get an electric toothbrush. He'll enjoy doing it himself and it's a lot less effort and a lot more effective.

What about you doing it at night and let him do it in the morning?

Dentist last month recommended help them till they're 10.
I had heard this before from my cousin but thought he was just being overun zealous.

I am too lazy to help every day. Generally every other day. He does his himself the rest of the time and it's electric.

YANBU- my dentist told me that children rarely have the motor skills to brush effectively until they are at least 8 so to do it for them, and still need supervision after that for a while until they get the hang of it.

I still check my son's teeth (12) and occasionally give them an extra brush. He tends to get gingivitis from not brushing properly and a few days of "top up" brushing clears it up. I find disclosure tablets help, but he thinks they taste horrid, fuss pot.
He doesn't have the best motor skills and struggles with knots and laces (painful) so it may depend on the child.
His dentist told me to check his teeth and brush, if necessary until he is 21 and he was only half joking.
On the plus side his teeth are beautiful, but very wonky. Mine are a disaster, so I aspire for better things for his teeth.

My 4yo whizzes his toothbrush around in the approximate vicinity of his teeth but doesn't clean them properly. I do them again afterwards but DH wouldn't think to. DD (6) is better. Her new ones overlap at the bottom and plaque builds up there of it gets the opportunity so I do that area religiously.