Share your memories of teeth cleaning as a child and Tooth Fairy tales with Bupa: you could win £500 of dental vouchers NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

We have been asked by the team at Bupa to find out your views and memories of teeth cleaning when you were a child and your Tooth Fairy tales.

They ask "what do you remember your parents telling you when you were little about the importance of brushing your teeth? We'd love to know your anecdotes and memories. Did you sing a song together? Perhaps you played a game to make it more fun. Did you get told any stories about the Tooth Fairy? Do you use any of the same methods to get your DC to make sure they are brushing their teeth properly?"

Bupa has created a fairy tale video telling the story of what happens to teeth when they are collected by the Tooth Fairy. Parents can personalise the video, which includes their DC name and picture to help them keep their teeth nice and clean. Why not start by creating one for your child and inspiring them to look after their teeth?

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win £500 of dental vouchers for the whole family.

You can have an extra chance to win by creating your own child’s video where you'll be given the chance to enter a competition (see link here).

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

With my children I purchased the tooth fairy game which is pretty good. I encourage my children to brush their teeth at least twice a day and they have used the 'brushing teeth app' (when they were younger and first brushing their teeth alone) which I think is by aquafresh which sings a little song for 2 minutes and says well done when they have finished. It did help and they now brush their teeth regularly wihout being prompted.
If the children do have sweets (which they are allowed a small amount of on a Saturday then they eat them in one session and don't grave on them for the day which I believe is better for teeth and they have a cube of cheese after eating them, They both have lovely teeth and no fillings!

Well done Bupa, have just watched the little tooth fairy presentation and its lovely. I will be forwarding this to all my friends with younger children.
Thank you!

As a child, the Tooth Fairy was the only upside to losing teeth! I knew how important it to look after my teeth, so I 'didn't end up with teeth like x', but I was very afraid of the dentist, especially the smell of the clinic. I especially remember the horrid, chalky taste of the disclosing tablets before we went and the pink rinse we used at the dentist. I remember being told that the Tooth Fairy uses the teeth to make the other fairies beautiful pearly necklaces.

I make sure my 4 DC don't have the same worry and fear, as I did as a child. I block book our check ups and always go in the chair first to put them at ease. They are well informed reed about good dental hygiene and a send them back if they haven't been thorough enough with their brushing. I try to make it fun with glittery toothpastes and flashing timers. They even get character electric toothbrushes as stocking fillers. They older 3 have all enjoyed the Tooth Fairy and I will definitely share the video with my youngest.

I hated cleaning my teeth as a child but my parents tried their best to get me to clean them with songs and rhymes.

What a lovely idea. I will be sharing this.

I used reward charts for my DDs, a sticker every time they brushed and a treat after so many stickers (not sweets though).
:)

All our songs go to the tune of the mulberry bush so... "this is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth!"

TBH, I don't remember anything about tooth brushing as a child - we just got told to do it!
But I do remember doing the disclosure tablet thing at school and loving it

I hated it because I hated mint, it stung my mouth and was painful. they didn't supervise so I didn't bother...

I don't remember anything other than the horror of my older brother's first tooth falling out and being told it would happen to mine - I was terrified! When it was time for it though it wasn't so bad.

I do also remember going to the dentist for 'fisher sealing' as well ;)

I remember being told the tooth fairy only gives you money for nice white shiny teeth so you have to keep them clean. I too remember the disclosing tablets. I quite liked them!

My children now think that tooth fairy has a couple of nights off now and again due to us forgetting the money under the pillows!!

My dad told me to brush my teeth three times a day, that it was important to look after your teeth. Sweets were frowned upon and I was encouraged to buy crisps rather than sweets. We had joint appointments for dental checkups and he ensured I attended regularly. However my mum was constantly baking- there were always several tubs full of cakes, scones etc at home, and there was no scrimping with the icing! Also we were allowed to drink creamola foam (which my mum bought). And I remember my mum giving me a cream egg to say well done for getting through a dental checkup with no work being required. So my parents had good intentions but gave mixed messages really.

My only real early memory concerning teeth is of the only time my Dad took my sister and I to the dentist. My teeth were fine but dsis needed a filling. She had the local anaesthetic but then refused to have the filling. The dentist tried to do it by force so she bit him. Dad was mortified. I can still remember the atmosphere on the bus going home and it was more than forty years ago. Dad never took us again.

I do remember begging my Mum to go to the dentist (I must have been about 8) as I had never been and all my friends had. I didn't need any treatment that time, and was disappointed.

I later remember having a tooth out and queuing on the dentist's stairs to get in. While people pouring with blood came out.

I remember my Dad stood behind me, arm wrapped round my front with a vice like grip on my forehead to clean my teeth for me and he never remembered to let me spit out! Needless to say, I preferred my Mim cleaning my teeth! I'm not too sure why I wasn't doing it myself at that point though.

Tooth fairy always wrote me a little letter with my 50p - I think because my friends tooth fairy did the same for her. But that's what give it away in the end. She had very similar writing to my Mum!

I don't remember loads about tooth brushing but I remember being told my teeth must be strong due to the industrial amounts of dairylea I consumed!

I do remember disclosing tablets at school though. They were awesome as we had few sweets so I loved something that turned my mouth blue!

When DS was three and going through a difficult stage with tooth brushing the only way he would do it was if DH pretended to be a dentist of unknown European accent, DS thought it was hilarious.

These days our toddler DD will only have her teeth brushed if DS encourages her!

When I was little I got my first wobbly tooth and after days and days of driving my mum crazy wobbling it, finally it feel out.

I will always remember that when I put it under my pillow for the tooth fairy my Mum swapped it with an envalope and inside she put a piece of cotton wool sprinkled with some glitter and a letter from the tooth fairy saying she was so happy with my tooth she had decided to give me very special gift of a real piece of 'cloud' from up in heaven where the fairys live!!

I have never forgotten how utterly thrilled I was with my gift!

I have a 3 year old Daughter and intend on doing the same for her one day.

To my horror, I've just remembered Gibb's Dentifrice. This was a disc of semi-solid toothpaste in a round flat tin - and it was used by the whole family! So all of us rubbed our toothbrushes on to the same toothpaste. Hygienic or what?

Dentistry was terrible in the 50s. Many children had teeth extracted and you were given gas by the normal dentist - no anaesthetist.

It made me fanatical about looking after my own children's teeth. All are now adults with very few fillings between them, and my eldest (aged 40) has none. I did their teeth three times a day, with songs, until they were old enough to do it themselves.

I was given daily orange fluoride tablets (don't know why - as far as I know we weren't in a low fluoride area, and none of my friends had them). I didn't like them, and stored them up in a recess in my bedroom cupboard, until my mum found them...

I can only really remember being told that if I didn't clean my teeth they would all fall out and I would have to be renamed gummy!!!! The only other thing I can remember about my teeth in childhood is my dad and granddad saying that if my teeth didn't fall out when it was wobbly they would have to tie one end of a piece of cotton to a door, the other end around my tooth and then they would slam the door to pull it out! I must have been traumatised!!!!!!

The Tooth Fairy was a delightfully memorable part of my childhood and I have tried to carry it on for my own kids…but they are boys so it doesn’t quite have the same effect!

My mum convinced me that fairies were very real and that they used the cleanest teeth to make fairy furniture. I used to carefully put my tooth wrapped in a tissue by the side of my bed and, as if by magic, the next morning it had been replaced by a little handmade pouch embroidered with multi-coloured thread, which contained the grand sum of 5p (it was a very long time ago!). I completely believed in all of this and even convinced my sister (and myself) one night that I had seen glittering lights moving in the garden and that it was the fairies coming and going.

My DS’s get a £1 for their baby teeth, wrapped in ribbon and sprinkled with glitter - they know it’s me but I’ve told them the stories from when I was little and they still love the surprise of the extra pocket money in the morning!

Anyone remember Punch and Judy toothpaste? I can still imagine the weird sweet but dry taste of it. I was so glad when my mum let me "graduate" on to grown up minty toothpaste!

When I was 5 or 6 I went through a phase of cleaning my teeth using green Palmolive soap - I've no idea why!

I wish we had been monitored more with our tooth brushing when younger. I do remember having to do it, but I honestly cant remember if we did it twice a day, or just pretended to! I also wish when we got fillings, although we knew it came from sugar and sweets, that the dentist and our parent would have spoken to us more about this, an attempt to change habits and to at least try and avoid fillings! My generation it seems have a mouthful of fillings from this attitude of just going to the dentist, getting fillings, moving on and no change of behavior or eating.

So the difference in our family now is that tooth brushing is seen as important and gets done twice a day. I still havn't managed to escape the curse of fillings and have had to re-look at our diet when my daughter got two fillings! But unlike my parents generation I am trying to ensure good dental hygiene and eating habits so that my daughter will have strong good teeth.

I remember always going to the health centre to have my teeth done hated it as i needed so many filling for eating too much fruit. those disclosing tablets were a nightmare to get off the teeth. My son loves going to the dentist he doesnt like cleaning his teeth but will do it. I dont remember being pushed into cleaning when i was a child but i must of been. My son has good teeth i do think that dental care is so much better now than many years ago.
The tooth fairy always came from when i was small to today for my children its more expensive though lol

tooth brushing was really encouraged twice a day in our house. i remember clearly the instructions before we were allowed downstairs (am or pm) 'toilet, hands and teeth' those were the 3 things we had to remember to keep doing and it worked. we were only allowed sweets once a week, on a saturday were we were given pocket money to buy whatever sweets we wanted. unfortunately my brother ruined my mums good habits by getting addicted to cola when he was a teenager (2litre bottles a day) but strangely enough, he still doesn't have any fillings at 30.