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

I remember liking the taste of Milk Teeth toothpaste, and being wanting to speed up the tooth fairy coming but twisting wobbly teeth.

I'm sure they don't want to hear from someone who is phobic of teeth cleaning, mint toothpaste, saliva and toothpaste foam, toothbrush glasses, do they?

I always enjoyed brushing my teeth as i was scared about them going black and falling out

Daily toothbrushing, 6 monthly trips to the dentist which were always time to pick a new toothbrush, plus the occasional fun of disclosing tablets which we always thought were brilliant!

We used to have to do to the whole of 10 Green Bottles in our heads whilst we cleaned so we knew how long we had to do it for!

Never had sweets after brushing teeth -only just after meals. Reemmber liking flavoured toothpaste in funky tubes-cherry flavour?!

As adult with DD the toothfairy um forgot to collect the tooth one night I think she was at a party... but thankfully she had put the tooth money at the bottom of the bed.

I have no recollection of it all - but I know i used to eat toothpaste when no-one was around

I was coming on here to say the main thing I remember is the disclosing tablets. I see others have said the same thing! It obviously made a big impression on a lot of us so maybe they should be done regularly with our own DCs...

I can't remember my parents ever telling me to brush my teeth. I never started to look after them properly myself until I was in my 20's and by then I had 5 fillings, squint teeth and a fear of the dentist.
I have/do make sure my kids know the importance of teeth brushing and the dentist is full of compliments at each visit, very proud of them.

me and my sisters brushing our teeth in the bathroom every night, fighting over the tiny mirror, trying to get the cleanest teeth. We had a contest every night over who would have the cleanest teeth, and the winner, ironically, won a sweetie.

My brother an I used to see who could brush for the longest

My childhood memories of teeth brushing involve me and my brother standing side by side with mentadent p toothpaste (which is/was a very strong flavour so quite horrid for little ones) and my mum singing 'goosey goosey gander'. When she finished we could stop brushing. The going rate for us back then was 20p per tooth.

Wasn't a great issue in our house - sadly left some poor teeth in adulthood.
Think it needs to be instilled at an early age to care for the teeth.

I cant remember cleaning my teeth ever being a priority! How times have changed!

I don't remember much about oral hygiene when I was a child apart from make sure you do it morning and night! I always done it on a morning but on a night I used to pretend I had unless my mother was upstairs then in my teens i was always coming in drunk n hiding away in my room so no one knew I had been drinking!! I now make sure my dc do their teeth and on school mornings I bring the toothbrushes downstairs in the kitchen and put a timer on the cooker so I know they have done them for long enough or I know my son would pretend just as I had all those years ago!

I'm almost 60 now and to be honest teeth cleaning wasn't seen as a priority when I was a child. I do remember having to have some out though when I was about 10 years old and I remember how much it hurt. I learnt the hard way and made sure I taught my children the importance of good dental hygene, and they in turn have taught their own children.
Lucky for me, considering how badly how I did treat my teeth, they aren't in too bad condition and I visit the dentist regularly now.

nothing seems much different now compared to my experience many decades ago. Perhaps there is more of a sense of tooth decay through sugar. We had the tooth fairy. Also really did tie thread to a tooth and slammed door. Would never do that with my children!

I can remember running upstairs and hiding in the wardrobe for fear of the toothbrush

It's embarrassing to admit that my parents never bothered to clean my teeth or even buy toothbrushes!

I only drank water and rarely ate sweets.
I'm 40 and still have no fillings.
These days I brush twice a day and see the denist twice a year.

I remember using a plaque disclosing tablet before a school disco when I was about 9. They were these little pink tablets which would dye any plaque on your teeth bright red so you'd have to brush the living daylights out your teeth to get it all to go.. this was all very well but it would also dye your lips & tongue the same vibrant shade of scarlet. I trotted off to the school disco & everyone ripped it out of me as they thought I was wearing my mum's lipstick! :(

I only used to clean my teeth once a day - my mum told me they were yellow because they were strong! Consequently I always make sure my kids clean their teeth twice a day and we have a timer too, so they always brush for the required time.

My parents didn't really push for us to brush our teeth, I reminded my little sister and helped her we used to ham a tune while we brushed so we did it long enough. Think it was twinkle twinkle little star. I am very strict that my children brush there teeth and properly too as I do not want them having problems as they get older

My parents always had a very lax attitude to teeth cleaning, and only now aged 22 am I starting to notice the effects of that and really trying to keep on top of it, it's a daily battle (normally with myself!) to remember to clean dds teeth, but I think it's really important!

When I was a kid, we had an egg timer and we had to brush til the time had run out. I bought my son a battery powered toothbrush as he found it easier to use and more fun.

i hated it because it meant i had to go to bed afterwards