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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

brushing teeth

26 replies

d1160812386573b001124 · 19/10/2006 20:01

I've got a 15mth old who clamps his mouth shut when i try to brush teeth. i'm torn between letting it go and just let him chew on the toothbrush himself (which is pretty ineffective in terms of oral hygiene!!) or persevering and having a screaming angry toddler on my hands... any tips for making this chore a little easier??? Does it really matter at this age??

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

zippitippitoes · 19/10/2006 20:02

Have you tried him lying across your lap with his head tipped back? And just moving his lips with your other hand

Cashncarry · 20/10/2006 10:59

Another suggestion - try having two toothbrushes. Give him one and while he's having a go, you nip in with yours and try to do it properly! Also, have you tried brushing your teeth with him and turning into a bit of a game - songs, actions etc? (Just make sure no one can see you!)

JackieNoHeadJustABloodyStump · 20/10/2006 11:02

If you do a search for 'Teeth' in the subject line you'll come up with a few threads that might be helpful, like this one .

BernieBear · 20/10/2006 11:04

Using suggestions on here I overcame this by:

Getting his favourite bear so that the bear had his teeth brushed too.
Took him out and let him choose his own toothbrush and paste.
Bought him his own little mirror so that he could look at himself brushing.

Also my Mum spoke to an NHS Dental person who said that at this age, just getting the toothpaste on the tongue was good enough for one brush, as long as the other brush (2 aday) was thorough.

We still have the odd hiccup, but generally he is brushing twice a day using all/some/none of the above.....none meaning I bribe him!!!

JackieNoHeadJustABloodyStump · 20/10/2006 11:05

And another thread here

rosie79 · 20/10/2006 11:39

When I started brushing ds's teeth (when he first got them) I always sang "this is the way we brush our teeth" to the tune of here we go round the mulbry bush, now he still wants me to do it. It's worth a try, might help make it into a game.

Original poster

d1160812386573b001124 · 20/10/2006 19:24

thanks a lot for all those great suggestions... will be trying them out in order!.... what scared me was the suggestion we should be brushing twice a day already......

OP posts:

7up · 20/10/2006 19:26

oh dear,ive been letting my 2year old chew on his brush for about a year he does try and copy me but praps i should try cleaning them for him, whooops

covenoveneer · 20/10/2006 19:28

Teeth are prone to decay from the moment they break through the gums into the mouth, so from the day the first one appears it is important to brush them, and also think about the diet.

7up · 20/10/2006 19:29

oh dont have toworry about the diet, with all ds food intolerances he lives on ham,chicken,fruit and veg

covenoveneer · 20/10/2006 19:30

Remember fruit contains natural sugars and some (like citrus fruits) are quite acidic, both of which can damage teeth.

7up · 20/10/2006 19:32

yea okay, il stop the tooth brush chewing and start scrubbing. he only has an apple every other day as it interfereswith his gut,more of a meat and 10veg boy

covenoveneer · 20/10/2006 19:38

Sorry, hope I didn't come across as preachy, but in my line of work you often find people are unaware of potentially damaging foods. We are all lead to believe that fruit and veg are a healthy diet, which is true and much better for your teeth than sweets etc, but many people don't realise theyhave the potential to damage teeth.

7up · 20/10/2006 19:39

no not preachy.....well just a little bit

covenoveneer · 20/10/2006 19:41

It's beacause I finished work on Monday and am now a SAHM (for a while) and begining to feel it already.

7up · 20/10/2006 19:44

you on maternity leave or career break

covenoveneer · 20/10/2006 19:46

A temporary career break, we are movinghouse shortly to a new area so commute would be 2.5 hours there and back. Don't love my job that much. I am doing various cousres etc to maintain my qualifications and wil go back in a year(ish) once we are settled, children in school/nursery etc.

foxinbubblesletsmaketrouble · 21/10/2006 07:14

Cleaning teeth is one thing I've always been strict about - manily because my parents weren't and I suffered with toothaches hroughout childhood!

I used to hold DS's mouth open and clean it - sometimes he was fine, other times he objected, but at all times he knew they would be cleaned one way or another !!

DD loves having hers cleaned so not a problem.

Buying tasty toothpaste and a funky brush obviously helps and I agree with the suggestion of letting them hold another toothbrush at the same time, so they can have a go too.

Good luck !

ghosty · 21/10/2006 07:24

I was told by a dentist that toothpaste isn't that important ... but brushing is vital ... introduce toothpaste later.
So I used to let DD have a teeny bit of toothpaste on the brush, water it down a bit ... then let her chew on it ... then I would brush them ...
Now we have a game ... we decide on what I can 'see' in her mouth ... usually farm animals (when DS was her age it was superheroes ) ...
So the whole palaver is, Me: "Ooooh, what can I see?"
Her: "A moo cow" (Opens mouth)
Me: "Oh, yes, there it is, open wider ... " "What else can I see?"
Her: "A Cockledoodledoo"
Me: "Right you are, let me see then"

Get the picture?
When she is giggling enough I brush her front teeth (she really hates that bit).

Things have improved vastly in the last year ... at 18 months it was really stressful, now it is a breeze and we don't have to do the farmyard game every night now, thank god!

twickersmum · 21/10/2006 07:30

we had a real battle with my dd1 when it came to teeth brushing. i think this was because in the early days we must have done it a few times when she had teeth coming through and it hurt.
However at age 1.5 after MONTHS of her not brushing her teeth we just went for it - i say we - my husband held her down whilst i did it then made a big fuss of her when it was finished, sticker for brushing her teeth etc. She soon got the point (4 nights of battle i think) and now always brushes her teeth and lets me "finish it off". This is the only time ever i have physically made her do anything and found it quite shocking at the time but just had tried everthing else. One thing that really helped was using one of those "superbrushes" where the head is much smaller but with brushes on all 3 sides (very effective!) and of course a tasty kid's toothpaste. They are quite hard to get hold of, mamatoto sells them i think.
Good luck!

accessorizequeen · 21/10/2006 14:50

I had this issue until a few months ago when I read a similar thread & realised I had to do something. I take ds to buy his special toothbrushes (and orange-flavour toothpaste from the pharmacy quite popular), I sing a different song for each brush (miss polly had a dolly etc), one of his animals comes for a tooth-brushing lesson etc. we bought a battery operated toothbrush when he was 18 months, makes it much easier & they're fun-looking. But like twickersmum, I just got really firm about it & brooked no arguments, it's only a few minutes a day after all if they throw a strop. And I make DP do the evening brush, so he can deal with the strop, he's usually a digger or tractor etc.

EliBoo · 21/10/2006 15:24

My dentist (who is up to date and very experienced, so I trust him) said that under 2 years of age kids just don't get plaque. The main dental issue at this age is diet: avoid sweet drinks, and even raisins/dried fruit in large quantities is not a great idea.

He suggested keeping the routine - so kids get the idea we ALWAYS brush our teeth twice a day no matter what - but not to stress (or stress them) over perfect brushing. More important for them to have a positive association, and know that its a daily routine that won't get skipped except in dire emergencies!

Passing this on because it helped me feel less anxious about it...which probably helped dd too. With her, I used all sorts of imagination games at this age, which she loved: brushing a tooth for each member of the family/soft toy/tv character etc. Or pretending she as a tiger/cat/whatever having its teeth cleaned. Using the mirror, and having her look in her mouth while I clean her teeth is good too.

She's now nearly 3, and brushes her own teeth very well - and lets me finish off. I never had to hold her down - I was tempted to once or twice, but it just felt so uncomfortable I found other ways. Maybe if they hadn't worked I'd have had to - but thankfully I didn't

ballbaby · 24/10/2006 11:39

My dentist told me to make sure I brush ds's teeth thoroughly and i told him the only way I could do that would be by holding him down and brushing them between screams. He said - do it! He's 3.5 now and it is very much easier, although he still has his moments!

deaconblue · 24/10/2006 13:35

My lo has just got his first two teeth (very cute). What toothbrush can you ladies recommend for brushing at this stage? I wondered about the one that is like a rubber thing that you put over your finger?

cornflakegirl · 24/10/2006 14:14

the rubber ones are okay until the next two teeth come through and your lo learns to bite properly! then they hurt!

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