Teeth cleaning: any suggestions?

[PlateSpinningAtAllTimes]

DS (18mo) hates having his teeth cleaned- we've tried various toothbrushes/pastes, modelling, praise, letting him do it himself, doing it by force....all to no avail! Any tips?

I took my DDs (5 & 3) to the dentist for the first time yesterday.

DD1 needed 4 fillings! I feel terrible as a mum, because I haven't pushed to brush her teeth at night. She has a major sweet tooth too.

She has strawberry toothpaste instead of mint which helps a bit.

Thankfully she was very brave, and let the dentist do them there and then, otherwise we would have had to make another appointment at another dentist. They could have kncoked her out but I thought that'd be even more traumatic.

So it really it worth the effort of making them brush morning and night!

with children, it's not just brushing that's impt.

never let them have juice between meals. 1 small glass of diluted juice with a meal is plenty.

never let them have sweets between meals.

Juice and sweets between meals is just bathing their teeth in acid. At mealtimes, the prolonged chewing produces saliva which neutralises acid and thus protects teeth.