Toddler teeth brushing - help!

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I’d really appreciate some advice about toddler teeth brushing from you wise people please - DS is 19 months old and refusing to let me brush his teeth or to brush them himself. I’m getting really worried about the effect on his teeth longer term and that they might become yellow. He plays with and chews his toothbrush after his bath every evening but if I put toothpaste on he spits it out in disgust (and this is the Colgate fruit flavoured one). If I try to show him how to brush, he tries to take my toothbrush out of my mouth and use that (which is obviously far too big) and if I try to brush his teeth while he is chewing on it a bit he shuts his mouth tight. Same for if I try to outright brush his teeth myself - the only way to do this is to restrain his hands which is really tough and doesn’t feel right so I give up after less than a minute. Obviously there is no reasoning with him. All advice appreciated, thank you.

Have you tried some of the toothbrushing songs on YouTube or there's a hey duggee one which worked with my youngest. My two never liked the fruity flavoured toothpaste, have you tried a minty one? I think you just have to keep trying with it and they do get used to it eventually.

My toddler is the same and only just tolerates a few seconds of brushing before closing his mouth. It’s not an ideal solution but I give him a chewable baby toothbrush which I make a game with and wiggle around his mouth. It’s called a Brush Baby.

My little boy was exactly the same and we would have to hold him tight to get any teeth brushing done but as he's gotten a little older it's become a lot easier , he's now just over 2 .
Hey duggee has a good toothbrushing song if your a fan of it in your house , he now lays on my lap where I hold him to keep him still and I sing a favourite nursery rhyme to him
Which helps to distract him .

We’ve brushed my son’s teeth twice a day every day since the first one came at 6mo- he’s now 2.5yo. He went through a LONG phase of yelling about it. We’d ask nicely, make a game, have a routine but for several months around the same age as your DC I had to just hold him on my lap, pin his arms down and do it. I wasn’t about to let him have dental issues or decay on his baby teeth, and frankly his screaming made it easier because his mouth was wide open He’s now a champ about it, it’s still not his favourite activity but no issues any more. My advice is to persevere and to force it any way you can tbh- teeth are precious!

I had this with my son. We got an electric toothbrush for him which he loved but then it broke and now he accepts a normal one again.

But what we did which worked more than anything was just calmly wait. If he fought it I waited. I would say "your teeth are dirty we need to clean them" and go to do it. If he kicked up a fuss I just sat there and tried again when he calmed down. This would take about 20 minutes at first. But he soon realised that it was happening no matter what but also when it did eventually happen it wasn't a negative experience. Whenever he let me I would go over the top with praise "wow you're so good at getting your teeth cleaned. Wow you're so clever" etc.

It might not work with every toddler, but worth a go!

Also you can get flavourless Toothpaste which might be better for him, check online!

Thanks a million for your advice everyone, I really appreciate it. I felt much bolder this evening and did a combo of holding arms down and making it a funny game and managed to get a good brush of all the teeth - toothpaste to be added from tomorrow! I also made a big fuss in a positive way when we saw a reference to teeth brushing and will get that Hey Duggee episode on repeat ASAP!!

Big thanks again.