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

When I was little, I don't remember much routine for teeth care. We did have chewable tablets that would stain my teeth blue to show where the plaque was which was fun! I did have lots of fillings in my teens though! I'm more attentive to my own DD's teeth now, and make sure they have a great routine. As they are 2 & 4 I still do much of the brushing but my older DD does get to try herself. We also have regular dentist appointments and have always had excellent feedback that both DD's teeth are nice and clean and clear of plaque.

I remeber having to chew on something purple after brushing, then wherever was purple on my teeth I had not brushed properly and had to do it all over again. I used to love it.

Mum was very strict about tooth cleaning & I remember she always made us brush our tongues too because as she explained bacteria put a white coat on it if we did not do it. She had beautiful teeth & kept them all until she died at 79, which I now realise is quite an achievement. It has worked so far too for all of us children.

we used to put a song on and I had to brush my teeth until the song was over to make it more fun!

My Mum never had any problems getting me to clean my teeth & these days it's so much easier as the toothbrushes available are such fun for kids to use

I remember pink Punch and Judy toothpaste bought for me as a special treat when I had to go into hospital for a long period of time. I still vividly remember the box.
I also remember the very vivid gas and air dream I had when I had four teeth taken out for space, feeling very wobbly and woozy on my way out of the dentists but being rather impressed with the bloody imprint my bite made on a piece of white bread.

Still processing the shame of being told I had to see the hygienist

I don't have any memories of dental care as a child but I do make a big effort with my girls. My oldest thinks we have a personal tooth fairy called Tessa and is always very put out on the occasions that Tessa doesn't leave a note when she picks up the tooth!

I always remember my mum saying all our teeth would fall out if we didn't brush them properly. I have carried it on with my children by saying the sugar monsters put holes in your teeth if you don't brush properly!

I always remember my older sister staring in the mirror and repeating to herself; 'my teeth are white, my teeth are white'. Became a long-standing phrase in our family.

I never wanted to brush my teeth and i remember my mom having a game with me trying to make sure i did brush them. I would always tell i had but never actually did!!! I guess one day i just realised i wanted 'my teeth to be white!' xx

I remember never being allowed the delicious strawberry toothpaste that everyone had! We had fennel fluoride toothpaste which was wayyy less exciting! It didn't stop me trying to eat it though!

I always enjoyed brushing my teethand luckily my kids do too, its all about the character toothbroushes and toothpaste lol

we didn't have a bathroom when I was a child so we cleaned our teeth in the kitchen and did them morning and night and if we didn't need any fillings the dentist gave us a barley sugar twist sweet after we'd been

I was completely convinced for many years that I actually saw the tooth fairy. I had been to have a couple of teeth out after I knocked them on a car door (ouch) and, as I lay in bed that evening, I was sure that I saw a little fairy carrying my tooth down a ladder at the end of my bed. She was very sparkly and had a little crown on her head. It's such a vivid memory from my childhood and one that I really enjoy sharing with my children. It's lovely to have a little bit of magic to pass on.

My Mum was children's dentist and her job was to go into schools and sing songs about brushing teeth so we were brought up with a good knowledge of how important it was to clean your teeth and were watched over daily to make sure we did it properly, it must have worked as I am 40 years old and have never had toothache and never had a filling or any dental work.

As a child my dentist used to scratch off wall charts, you used a coin to reveal the picture each time you'd brushed for three minutes. Once it was completed you took it in for another one. It was awesome.

Now, my dc love the tooth brush apps with the timer built in an reward at the end. Aqua fresh is the best and free

I've always hated brushing my teeth. I detest mint and hate the feel of the foaming toothpaste in my mouth. I can't remember being taught to brush my teeth but know I wasn't much good at it until I became much older.

We started off with fruit flavoured toothpastes as children and were very keen to brush our teeth as a result. A whiff of children's strawberry toothpaste takes me right back to sitting on the side of the bath with Mum putting a blob of the stuff on a brush!

I don't remember much about tooth brushing either, certainly was only in the morning, the dentist did lots of work, and used gas to put me 'out'. Happy to report my 17 year old DD is completely filling free and my 23 year old has only one tiny filling, how things change, no more dentist piecework payments, thank goodness !

I remember being in school and they gave us the pink tablets to chew to show all of the plaque. I remember some of the kids had really bad teeth. My parents used to tell us some really scary stories about how my nan had false teeth so we were too scared not to brush well!!

My mum used to brush her teeth at the same time as me to make sure I did it properly.

ALL the other kids had translucent blue toothpaste called blue minty gel, and we didn't because my mum thought it looked disgusting, and I grew up deprived as a result and have never forgiven her.

Although now I think of it, as an adult, it probably was disgusting and I can see why she didn't want to buy a whole tube of the stuff when there was only me and my mum in the house to use it. We did have the stuff with the red stripes sometimes - how on earth do they make it come out striped?!?

That made me want to clean my teeth, or at least to squirt some down the sink to see if I could make the stripes go wrong if I squeezed it differently...

I hated it but the flavoured toothpastes like strawberry used to taste so good!