Share your tips & tricks on keeping your children's teeth healthy for Colgate - chance to win a £250 voucher! *NOW CLOSED*

[KathrynMumsnet]

Colgate has asked us to find out about your thoughts and concerns about dental hygiene and how you keep your children’s teeth healthy.

Here’s what Colgate says: “Did you know that 84% of children and all adults suffer from cavities at some point in their life*?

“Cavities, also known as tooth decay, are the most common chronic disease on the planet. But cavities are preventable and this is why Colgate® has created a breakthrough new anti-cavity toothpaste called Colgate® Maximum Cavity Protection plus Sugar Acid Neutraliser™.

“Providing close to double protection against early decay**, Colgate® Maximum Cavity Protection is the first and only toothpaste to contain Sugar Acid Neutraliser™ technology, that goes beyond the protection of fluoride, neutralising sugar acids in plaque – the #1 cause of cavities.

“Colgate’s Head of Scientific Affairs, Foti Panagakos comments:
“More and more we’re aware of the increasing levels of sugar in our diets and the negative impact this has on our health. The need for a toothpaste with built in Sugar Acid Neutraliser™ technology has never been so urgent. Colgate® Maximum Cavity Protection plus Sugar Acid Neutraliser™ will have a tremendous impact on the oral health of the nation.””

*UK Adult Dental Health Survey 2009, The Health and Social Care Information Centre
** Toothpaste with fluoride alone reduced by 32%
---------------------
Below are a few points to get you started, but feel free to add any other comments you have:

• What are your top tips for getting your DCs to clean their teeth properly?
• What kind of excuses do your DCs give you about why they don't need to clean their teeth?
• How do you teach your DCs about good dental hygiene?
• Do you worry about your DCs teeth? What do you do to help them keep their teeth healthy?
• Do you actively try to reduce the sugar intake of your DCs? If so, how?

Fears, tips, whatever it is, we’d love to hear it!

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky Mumsnetter will win a £250 voucher of a supermarket of their choice*.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

*except Aldi and Lidl

I buy brands that taste pleasant and brush my teeth regularly to set a good example.

What are your top tips for getting your DCs to clean their teeth properly?

I talk through all the food eaten that day looking for it with the toohbrush

-What kind of excuses do your DCs give you about why they don't need to clean their teeth?

none yet

-How do you teach your DCs about good dental hygiene?

we talk about getting rid of bits of food so the naughty bacteria have nothing to eat

-Do you worry about your DCs teeth? What do you do to help them keep their teeth healthy?

not really, brush and not too much sugar

-Do you actively try to reduce the sugar intake of your DCs? If so, how?

limit treats and no sugary drinks

When dc1 was going through a phase of only cleaning his teeth for about 10 seconds, we introduced playing a song on my phone while he cleaned, had to clean for the whole song.

I was never taught, nor encouraged to look after my teeth. This is something that has been a huge regret in my life & has led to phobias about my teeth being touched.

I have gone to great lengths to ensure my son does not have the same start in life. It has been easy to encourage him as he was growing up, however, once he turned 10 it became much more of a struggle & I am forever badgering him to get his teeth brushed. I have sat him down & explained the consequences but it does not seem to impact on him.

I really want him to look after his teeth, but I am finding it a bit of a struggle at the minute

A famiy activity and I found my son loves a electric toothbrush

My DS is 27 months and teeth brushing can be a bit of a battle. He likes to hold his tooth brush and suck it, occasionally he tries to brush, but obviously it is no where near a proper clean.

Every now and then he will let me do a thorough clean, but this only happens when he is distracted by the iPad (a whole other area to stress about)

We don't get excuses from him, just a defiant "NO!!"

I do worry about his dental hygiene, a lot. I don't want him to be in pain from poor oral health, especially seeing as I can't explain to him in a way he will understand why.

Annoyingly, DH and grandparents sneakily opt out of cleaning his teeth because it can be such a battle, so I worry even more about it, and I'm the mean parent because I try to make him do it.

I hope once he is older and has more verbal skills and understanding, we can start to use reward charts to encourage him.

"Fears, tips, whatever it is, we’d love to hear it!"
I once bought disclosing tablets (the ones that turn the teeth red where plaque remains)
I then asked my son approx 7 years old at the time to clean his teeth 'to what he thought was good enough'
he was horrified by the amount of red showing the plaque & I explained that all of what was left was damaging the teeth!
He did a much better job after that

A very positive first check up to the dentist aged 3 with heaps of praise from the dentist about how well she had done seems to have done the trick so far. We are hoping it is going to last!

I try to make brushing my daughters teeth fun. We play music as we brush our teeth and have made a song for afterwards.

I also think a routine does wonders! :)

-Brush your teeth with your children. Make a game out of it!
-My son comes out with all sorts of excuses, mainly that he already brushed his teeth yesterday.
-I try to explain about dental hygiene but my son is only three and doesn't quite understand.
-I constantly worry about my son's teeth, especially since my husband thinks it's okay for him to have cookies for breakfast. I feel slightly more at ease knowing that I'm brushing his teeth with Colgate’s® Maximum Cavity Protection plus Sugar Acid NeutraliserTM toothpaste.
-Yes! I actively try to reduce the sugar intake of my son and attempt to get him to eat fruit and vegetables for snacks as opposed to sugary food, such as cookies, sweeties, and cakes.

What are your top tips for getting your DCs to clean their teeth properly?

They have never had a choice, so now they just accept it is one of those unnegotiable things that have to be done.

-What kind of excuses do your DCs give you about why they don't need to clean their teeth?

They hardly ever make excuses.

-How do you teach your DCs about good dental hygiene?

We concentrate on thinking about each tooth, and brushing it all the way round.

-Do you worry about your DCs teeth? What do you do to help them keep their teeth healthy?

Yes - I have loads of fillings and I really don't want them to have any. So we brush twice a day and try to eat well.

-Do you actively try to reduce the sugar intake of your DCs? If so, how?

Yes, we try, although I find school a problem as the school meals are sugary with sweet puddings every day and revolting haribo sweets as rewards. So at home we rarely have chocolates and sweets - they are treats rather than an everyday occurrence. Sugar free drinks, and most foods made from scratch to reduce sugar intake.

We have electric toothbrushes that time 2 mins. There are no excuses over brushing. They brush twice a day or no treats. Prior to this we used the aqua fresh app.
We try to keep sugary foods to dessert only but sometimes use them as a snack. Especially when they have days when you can't fill them!
The biggest change is making my own cordial. I put chopped fruits into a large glass - strawberries and raspberries, lemon and lime - then fill with water and let it infuse in the fridge for a day. Treat it as a cordial and water it down. It's not as sugary but it still adds flavour to water.

I only have a 3yo DD but she goes through phases of not wanting to brush her teeth. She generally gives in eventually as she knows it's something we won't back down on. Recently I've been letting her have a go to start with and then I take over and make sure all her teeth get a good brushing.
I do worry slightly about her sugar intake as much for her health as for her teeth. She used to only drink water and milk apart from the very occasional bit of squash if we were eating out but she was prescribed Movicol for constipation and the only way I can get her to drink it is in a daily cup of very dilute squash. Also using chocolate buttons as a reward for going to the toilet! Not ideal but neither is cleaning pooey knickers every day, it's all a compromise.

-What are your top tips for getting your DCs to clean their teeth properly?

We have electric brushes with timers which helps enormously. It makes you realise that there really is more to it than just quickly brush over. It takes a long time but now they are used to it they don't complain much. They are 3 and 4 so we mostly do it for them after they had a go.

We also use dental floss in the evenings. Those little floss sticks. Took them a while to get used to it and I was very gentle at first to get them started. Now they do it themselves and I finish off.

-What kind of excuses do your DCs give you about why they don't need to clean their teeth?

They sometimes whine when they are tired but no excuses yet. In fact, they snitched on their dad the other day when he finished before the timer.

-How do you teach your DCs about good dental hygiene?

They know that sweets and sugar are bad for their teeth. However, since they still have sweet things, they know that they have to brush extra well. My friend is a dentist so they are keen to please her :-)

-Do you worry about your DCs teeth? What do you do to help them keep their teeth healthy?

I worry a lot about their teeth as mine are awful. As they are still so young I have control over their dental health but I worry how I will make sure that they brush well when they are teenagers. (I used to wet my toothbrush in order to fool my parents. How am I gonna avoid them doing that?)

-Do you actively try to reduce the sugar intake of your DCs? If so, how?

I never buy them sweets or chocolate. But we live near grandparents and aunties and Kindergarten are quite lax so they still get too much plenty.

I brush my teeth at the same time as my children, its our routine and they like doing it with us!

buy them novelty toothbrushes to make teeth cleaning more fun & use one with a timer to make sure they clean for the right length of time

We used to clean our teeth together so we could watch each other and copy each other and make it fun whilst checking it was done properly. It often ended up with giggling rather than teeth brushing! We also used disclosing tablets from time to time because there is nothing like a blue or red tongue to make tooth brushing seem more appealing!

-What are your top tips for getting your DCs to clean their teeth properly?

The kids have animal toothbrushes with lights that flash for 2 minutes so they know they have to brush that long. They are aged 2 and 4 so we make it into a competition between them to see who can get the shiniest teeth.

-What kind of excuses do your DCs give you about why they don't need to clean their teeth?

They don't mind too much, rarely get excuses.

-How do you teach your DCs about good dental hygiene?

Their grandparents wear dentures so we explain it's because they didn't take care of their teeth so they rotted and fell out. So they understand what can happen if rot sets in!

-Do you worry about your DCs teeth? What do you do to help them keep their teeth healthy?

I am mindful of what they eat and make sure they brush daily. They also see the dentist 6 monthly.

-Do you actively try to reduce the sugar intake of your DCs? If so, how?

Not too many sweet snacks and they only drink water and milk

-What are your top tips for getting your DCs to clean their teeth properly?
We showed him images of teeth that were neglected - he was refusing to brush, and this was a last resort. It worked. He also has nice toothbrushes (character ones, ones that flash etc).

-What kind of excuses do your DCs give you about why they don't need to clean their teeth?
No excuses since the photos!

-How do you teach your DCs about good dental hygiene? He's only four, but we tell him how important it is to brush twice a day. As well as the images shown, I have fillings, and I tell him he doesn't want fillings, does he?!

-Do you worry about your DCs teeth? What do you do to help them keep their teeth healthy? Not especially. We do what we can (brush twice a day) and what every else is luck and genes. I do worry about him falling off his bike and smashing his teeth, more than I worry about sugar.

-Do you actively try to reduce the sugar intake of your DCs? If so, how?
We eat well anyway. The one thing I do encourage is that he drinks through a straw.

-What are your top tips for getting your DCs to clean their teeth properly?
The DC are young enough that I still brush their teeth for them. They always have a go with the toothbrush but I am the one who makes sure the proper two minute brushing is done.

-What kind of excuses do your DCs give you about why they don't need to clean their teeth?
They don't! When I give them there toothbrushes they both say thank you, they like brushing their teeth.

-How do you teach your DCs about good dental hygiene?
I go to the dentist every 6 months and since the DC were babies they have come with me. The dentist started checking their teeth as soon as the first one erupted. I have to think I'm doing a good job since they like brushing their teeth.

-Do you worry about your DCs teeth? What do you do to help them keep their teeth healthy?
Yes! They don't have any sticky foods, no fizzy pop, and biscuits & chocolate are limited and kept plain. The only have 1/2 water 1/2 juice if it is a mealtime and if I can't brush their teeth right after a meal then I make sure they have a bit of hard cheese as the final course.

-Do you actively try to reduce the sugar intake of your DCs? If so, how? Yes, no dried fruit only fresh, no fizzy drinks, they generally only drink water or milk. I'm afraid I am a bit strict with them when it comes to nutrition and their teeth.

Brushing teeth twice a day is non-negotiable - no matter how much stamping of feet goes on! Letting DD choose her own tooth brush helps (currently featuring George Pig).

As with most things, set a good example for your children. Let them see you brushing your teeth every day and talk about keeping your teeth clean. Most children will want to follow mum and dad's example.

DS (4yo) complains about doing his teeth sometimes (as he does about getting dressed!) but we've been strict about it being something we do twice a day every day. We find it easier to get him dressed and do teeth before doing anything else e.g. going downstairs to play, breakfast. If we stick to routine he accepts it more.

I let him have sugary snacks but (as advised by the dentist) only with main meals - I try to limit the amount of time his teeth are subjected to sugary things! I have reduced the amount of ribena he has as that was increasing too.

DS has come to the dentist with us since he was a baby so he's happy to have his teeth checked and they've been fine so far. I feel that giving him a good sense of dental hygiene will be important for him and hopefully he'll thank me one day

I've had problematic teeth for years so have accidentally scared my kids into good dental hygiene - after seeing me at the dentist they are extremely keen not to get in the same boat!

Regular dentists visits are enough here. DS had to have a wobbly but stubborn milk tooth out when the adult tooth started to come down behind it, and that experience of anaesthetic injection was enough to make him keep his teeth in good nick!

DH and I try to set a good example with dental hygiene, but we both can open our mouths and show them a few old, ugly fillings