To still brush my DC's teeth?

[upsideup]

3,4,8,10 years and I brush all their teeth, oldest two I will let try but will always do a bit after.
DD(10) is on a sleepover and I'm already imagining she hasnt brushed them properly and I will have to do it again when she gets home in the morning.

When did you stop?

My 11, 9 and 6 year olds all brush their own teeth and have done since 4 or 5 years old. No fillings or teeth out with any of them. They get checked at the dentist every six months. Teach them to do it themselves and teach them the value of clean teeth. I told them the tooth fairy is only interested in sparkling teeth.

I brushed my kids teeth until they were 10 because they both have poor enamel and are at risk of fillings and teeth rotting. They are now 20 and 17 and don't have any fillings.

Maybe age 5, youngest is 8 now & does a great job according to the dentist (I stopped all bathroom supervision by 6/7). Do you still wipe their arses too!?

Give the older ones disclosing tablets and an electric toothbrush.

We brush our 11 and 14yo's teeth but they have SN and can't do their own.

Though a good compromise if you want to encourage independence is that they clean them in the morning and you clean in the evening.

Dentists of course are seeing the ‘how to have clean teeth at X years’ part of the equation, but not the ‘how to learn the skills to have clean teeth for the rest of your life ‘ part. Same as rigidly denying your DC cake at every pass would leave them with healthy teeth but black holes in their psyche.

Our dentist says till 7. We let them do them in the morning, but we do them at night.

There were some guidelines published recently and they recommended supervised brushing until 12. My 8 year old does her own but I go over them again in the evening. The dentist noticed she wasn't brushing the backs properly. I didn't look after my teeth very well as a child and have had various problems with them and I want my children to have decent teeth.

My DM was a dentist and I don't remember her ever brushing my teeth. Obviously, she probably did at some point, but not so late in life that I recall. I mean, I understand supervising to make sure they do it, but actually holding the brush yourself...*

*SEN excepted, obvs

YANBU. We brush the kids teeth with them once a day. They're 10, 8, 4. They do it themselves first, then one if us follows up with a 1-min brush.

Dentist recommended doing so as long as possible. Dh and I both have awful teeth and never took brushing seriously as kids, so it's something we don't compromise on. I remember clearly not giving a shit about brushing right (brushed regularly, but not properly), and wish I'd had better habits instilled in me.

All mine brushed their own from age 4/5. Out of 5 dc none of them have had a filling or any dental issues raised by the dentist.

I think key is making sure they are taught properly. I think by age 10 you're pretty safe in the knowledge she will know what she's doing now.

My 6 year old brushes his own teeth and I go over them for as long as he will let me (usually 20 seconds)

10 is a bit old to be brushing their teeth for them.

Mine are 11 and almost 9 and i go back over them. They do a pretty piss poor job if unsupervised.

I also brush my 10 year old's teeth - because he's pretty rubbish at it. He generally does them himself, but at least twice a week I give them a good clean too. 14 year old has always been fine and doing her own, so perhaps this is down to individual child.

Our dentist said to brush them until 8yo, which we did.

To be honest I feel that our job as parents to to teach our children how to do things for themselves.

I’m a bit at an NT 10 year old who can’t brush their teeth properly and doesn’t understand the importance of brushing them properly.

DS is 9 and I honestly can't remember the last time I brushed his teeth. Must have been years ago. Had check up at dentist recently - all fine.

Dentist said to supervise until around 7, not actually brush their teeth! Obviously make sure they are brushed properly but surely they should have learnt how to brush them themselves and carry this forward into adulthood?

I figured 7 max but fine to supervise their brushing properly until older. They won't get better at it if not forced allowed to try.

Yanbu. My dentist said do them as long as your dc will let you. I am a lazy cow though so I stopped checking them at about 6. My dc are lucky they have great teeth, the older ones are adults and they have never had fillings or any other issues. aside from very expensive orthodontic work

YANBU. My dentist said they should brush on their own when they can tie shoelaces ( manual dexterity) . My 8yo is still patchy at 5hat. I brush her teeth at night, she does them in the morning. I can't see it stopping any time soon. Like others, she has enamel issues and since she is comfortable with it, I want to do all I can to help prevent decay.

My dentist has told me I should still be helping DD brush her teeth..and she is 8. They may well be able to run a brush up and down by themselves, but they are not always doing it properly.

They do both know how to do it and that its important, but will just get bored and miss out the back teeth or the back of the teeth easily, They both dont have the straightest teeth so we usually have to use interdental brushes as well. I dont think I baby them, they both leave the house and get left in the house alone and are pretty independant but i still do hair on school days (proberly babying them but its easier to do it from behind and cuts 10 minutes from our morning) so I stand behind doing their hair them watching them brush their teeth and do a little bit after to make sure theres nothing was missed out. But maybe we will start to switch to just that so they do their own teeth in the evenings and I check in the morning.

www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/33518252

To me dental health is important as mine was awful as a child. I see no harm in supervising brushing and giving a hand if not done properly.

Ds 9 is very slap dash due to poor attention so going to try some of those tablets that show up plaque.