Childminder's Club: Toothbrushes??

[Katymac]

A couple of mums have asked me to start cleaning teeth after meals and while I'm fine agreeing to thier request I wondered if there were any issues....

a)How often? after all food incl snacks? (ie 5 times a day)
b)Can teeth be brushed too often?
c)I can't cope with the storage for 14 toothbrushes and separate toothpastes - so do I pick a tothpaste they all use or just brush with water?
d)How do I store 14 toothbrushes hygenically?
e)Assuming 3 mins a child - this is going to take 27mins to do all the children - is that realistic?

I am sure to have forgotten loads of other points you will remember/remind me

I am also assuming I will need the parents to sign a disclaimer saying that if their children get fillings it's not my fault

Any thoughts/advise/help on the subject??
tia
KMc

The ones that have asked have provided

It's very difficult to do for one child what you aren't doing for them all

Buying the toothbrushes won't be my problem (I don't think) but storing them will be

I can't keep them in the child bag (as it's as far away from the sink as it could be) so I need to store them by the sink - safely and hyigenically (iyswim)

Still thinking

I had pondered the storage thing, as I am aware that it is not hygienic to store uncovered toothbrushes in a toilet. ( My own sonic has covers for the brussh heads) But I would really like the children to clean their teeth after lunch and I would provide brushes and paste ( all free samples gratefully received!) I only have 4 under 5 at one time, so not too much of a problem, apart from replacing them frequently as chcildren will chew their brushes!

I was thinking Ikea or a £ shop might have some sort of cases, but haven't got round to looking yet, so await more views with interest.

YOU CAN GETCASES IN BOOTS FOR I THINK A QUID OR SO.

interesting thread. In the past I have only cleaned teeth after breakfast, where parent has supplied brush & paste, hadn't considered doing it after lunch as well.

\link{http://www.stop-the-rot.co.uk/dosanddonts.htm/Stop the Rot Dos & Don'ts} suggests using margarine tubs for storage.

or even
\link{http://www.stop-the-rot.co.uk/dosanddonts.htm\Stop the Rot Dos & Don'ts}

Just had this extremely quick response from British Dental Health Foundation:

With regard to your enquiry,

We would advise to brush twice a day for two minutes with a fluoride toothpaste containing 1000 to 1250 parts per million of fluoride(written as ppm on the back of the toothpaste tube.)
If you can brush after meal times it would do no harm as long as you are brushing at least 30 minutes after eating to prevent further acid attack.
Our saliva is a natural cleanser and will help to neutralise the acid and if you wish to promote less acid attack you could offer the children a piece of cheese or raw vegetables after a meal which are alkaline so will help to neutralise to.
We trust that you may find our leaflet on diet and my teeth informative which can be downloaded from our web address below and following the links for frequent questions and then tell me about.

E: [email protected]
W: \link{www.dentalhealth.org.uk\Dental Health}

Well here is what we do -
Each child has an addis beaker with a screw on top (get them from wilkinsons), we keep inside each one a short handled toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste (every child gets one along with a towel and flannel when they start with me so buying all of them at once may be a little expensive), I also have a couple of extra of the beakers so that I can change a couple of them at a time and then put the used beakers in the dishwasher. I then keep the beakers in a basket in my downstairs bathroom cupboard and get the ones out every morning that we will need (I have 12 part-timers so can't keep them all out).
We usually brush approx 30 mins after breakfast (for those who have breakfast with me) and approx 30 mins after lunch.
I had this in place on my last ofsted inspection and she never said it wasn't ok.