Kids cleaning teeth in the mornings

[Bowbells7]

I've always told/begged/encouraged my kids to clean their teeth in the mornings as well as at night. This has always been unsuccessful - usually because we're a pretty disorganised bunch and just getting them to school on time is a miracle.
They've grown up with one filling each and one of them has got to adulthood with no fillings. A friend of mine says she cleans her kids teeth for them morning and night (they're 8 and 10) and is horrified that ours aren't forced to clean their teeth in the morning.
I'm starting to have a wobble now that I've been too laid back with our kids tooth cleaning. AIBU to worry about this now? Our youngest is 12. Should I be forcing him to do his teeth?

You need to make sure your children’s teeth are brushed morning and night.
I will brush my children’s teeth until they can do it properly - 3 or 13 it doesn’t bother me.
Unegotiable

It’s a non negotiable situation, they need their teeth brushed twice a day everyday

My parents were like you, and now at 32 half of my teeth are missing, crowned or filled. That's why I am strict with brushing my 6.5 year - old's teeth for him every morning and night without fail, and i will do so for as long as I can.

So would they go to school without brushing their teeth because you’re a pretty disorganised bunch? If so that’s pretty grim I’m afraid.
Also have they have regular check ups, ie a dentist has agreed they don’t need fillings?

I'm pretty stringent about toothbrushing at least twice a day for our son, but my husband grew up only brushing his at night. He doesn't have any fillings.

Who knows. I got fissure sealants put on my teeth when I was around 12 (they're basically preventative fillings) and always brush my teeth twice a day, but I've still needed 2 fillings as an adult.

In short, I have no answer for you

Checkups every six months. The dentist has always been happy with their teeth, apart from when a filling was needed of course.

I've said yanbu to be thinking about this now rather than not at all. Yabu not to have sorted this our already

Ew stinky morning breath! Yes, brush teeth morning and night. That’s grim and lazy.

Teeth cleaning should be absolutely non negotiable.
There were times that I had to wrap my child tightly in a towel in order to brush his teeth when he was a toddler. He's 4 now and knows it's something that has to be done, he stands without a fuss to have them cleaned.
Honestly, I can't ever imagine being so disorganised that I didn't brush my child's teeth, it really is a basic like feeding them and cleaning their clothes.

A lot of whether a person needs fillings seems to come down to luck and genetics as well as looking after them. But YABU as not brushing your teeth in the morning is disgusting. Even if your dc never need fillings their breath must be unpleasant.

Teeth need to be cleaned twice a day. This should be non negotiable. The fact that they don’t have cavities (yet!) is neither here nor there really. It’s your job to teach them good hygiene practices that they will keep up for their whole lives.

Zero negotiation in our house either. Teeth are done 30 mins after breakfast and last thing at night after any milk etc. If they eat any very sugary things are lunch too I encourage a drink of water afterwards.

Literally just had an argument with my ds cause he hasn’t brushed his teeth this morning!! It’s a non negotiable in our house. You brush them twice a day no matter what. I’ve always brushed twice a day and occasionally flossed (I’m crap at flossing regularly) and am in my 30s. The only thing the dentist had ever done to my teeth is an occasional brushing! No fillings or anything!

They become your children's habits forever, so even if they "got away with it" so far, only doing half as many toothbrushes in their lives will have an impact unless they are very very lucky.

I do think a lot of it is down to genetics, I’m 44 with 1 small filling however my 90 year old grandma still has all her own teeth with no fillings. However I do brush twice a day (without fail) and make my kids do it, as they soon look yellow if you start missing the night time brush for example.

That’s gross, sorry. Teeth cleaning is essential. Forgetting to brush hair in the morning because you’re disorganised is one thing but teeth should be cleaned twice a day without question.

Your voting is not very clear though because people will vote YABU because your are being very unreasonable not to make them do it but in your post it asks if YABU to make them start now. So as a pp said, Yanbu to get them to start now but YABU in the way you’ve dealt with it so far and I suspect a lot of the people voting are getting mixed up as I would not expect anyone to agree that this is ok!

I always say “go and get dressed and brush your teeth” but teeth do fall by the wayside if I don’t double check. Whenever we’re first leaving the house in the morning I send back anyone who hasn’t brushed and a few days of that tends to get them back in the habit.

Very lazy! Sorry. Brushing your teeth twice a day should absolutely be non negotiable.
You should be implementing good habits that your children will take onto later life.

You let them go to school with morning breath? That's pretty gross.

Mine have always cleaned their teeth night and morning - apart from anything else what about smelly breath?! Ugh.

My dc brush their teeth before bed and always before school without nagging but weekends and school holidays, I have to continually nag to get them to brush their teeth in the morning. I now leave their toothbrushes out with toothpaste on them by the sink to jog their memory. It seems to work.

But yeah, you must get them into this habit. It's one of the most basic life skills and should be automatic.

YABU. Their breath must absolutely reek.

You always get some people who have perfect teeth with no tooth brushing, just like you get the healthy 80 year olds who have smoked for 60 years - some people just have a generic make up that makes them less prone to certain conditions. But for the majority of people regular brushing is really important.