Mumsnet users share with Aquafresh how they get their children to brush their teeth

[EllieMumsnet]

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Regular tooth brushing can be a particular pain point for many parents, as often trying to persuade a wriggling, protesting child to open their mouth for this twice daily ritual is no small task. However there are lots ways to make it easier, and Aquafresh would love to know how you get your children to brush their teeth.

Aquafresh has this to say: “Here at Aquafresh, we know that brush time can be a challenge. That’s why we have Captain Aquafresh, the Nurdles and our brush time app to make your tooth brushing routines more fun! But we’d love to know, what are your brush time tips?”

So how can it be made easier? Do you employ a softly softly approach, waiting to spring with a ready-loaded toothbrush? Perhaps you bribe with an extra story at bedtime, or does your child actually listen to a logical, fact-based explanation of why it's good to brush? Maybe you’ve found that letting them pick out their favourite toothbrush and toothpaste help get them excited about brushing their teeth?

However you do it, share with Aquafresh how you get your children to brush their teeth and you could be in with the chance of winning a voucher worth £300 for the store of your choice (from a list).*

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

If you need to contact GSK to report a product quality issue, adverse event, have a question, request or complaint about a product, please email GSK at [email protected], call on 0800 783 8881 or contact GSK via the form located [https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/contact-us/ here]].

*All UK Mumsnet users aged 18+. Open 5/11/18 to 19/11/18. To enter please post on the thread below. One entry per person. One prize to be won: £300 voucher of winner’s choice (from a list). Winner chosen by random draw performed by computer process. Further Insight T&Cs at this link.

My daughter has an electric toothbrush with a 3 minute timer. It beeps every 30 seconds to remind her to move to a different area and plays a tune at the end. She loves it and toothbrushing has been so much easier since buying it.

I gave up, they do it for mum lol

have always explained the importance of why teeth-brushing is important. Regular dentist check-ups to re-iterate this.

So lucky coz my daughter loves it (if her dad brushes with her and sings his toothbrush song)

We’ve currently got toothbrushes which light up for the length of time they should brush for. My main thing though when they whinge is the threat of the dentist. No sticker for dirty teeth etc!

Our 2 year old resolutely refuses to let us brush them but will be an angel if she is 'teaching' her baby brother how to do it because she's a big girl!

Electric minion toothbrushes! I wish I'd bought them years ago for ds's. Who have always been very reluctant.

I have to hold my daughter in front of the bathroom mirror so we can see ourselves and we have to brush together. If she gets a new toothbrush (that looks exactly like the old one, but a different colour if they don't have the same) we have to throw the old one away without her seeing and put up with about 3 days of forced brushing through the tears and tantrums

Me an my girls have a funny face competition every morning and night when it comes to brushing their (our) teeth, they love it amd sometimes 2 mimutes isnt enough so we go 2 minutes top and 2 minutes bottom. We also have a happy teeth jar and a rotton teeth jar if they brush them properly 2 white balls fo in the happy teeth jar and once filled end of the week they recieve a present if the rotton teeth jar is full they lose a toy or something theyre really imto at that time

We’ve always had difficulty as our very determined 5 year old is adamant he “doesn’t need help” and has been this way since age 2/3. He does them well himself now with supervision/promoting to remember all the bits. For several years we compromised by him allowing us to brush them for him then taking over to show us how it should be done properly!

We really like the flashing/countdown timer toothbrushes too.

When they are younger it’s just about creating habits and routine and literally standing over them at bed time and getting ready for school. It’s just always been a non negotiable. My 6 year old loves the traffic light toothbrushes that ensures she’s brushing for long enough. Consequently my 13 and 16 year olds both always brush theirs they feel crap if they don’t .

D's is 9 now and we get him to floss and brush by using a mouthwash that shows what you spit out, so he effectively competes to see if he can improve on yesterday, and by using disclosure tablets so he can see where he's missing. He likes his electric toothbrush but knows he'd lose it if the dentist said he wasn't cleaning properly as he'd be back to basics with as manual brush. As a toddler he was allowed to brush only after a parent had brushed his teeth so he had a go but we knew they were clean.

In the bath works best for me

Given the choice my 7 year old just wouldn't bother so I clean his teeth for a minute and then he takes over for the second half. He has an electric toothbrush with the 2 minute timer and often watches the iPad as well ( as a distraction)

It's always been a battle, but perseverance pays. They like fun electric toothbrushes and mild tasting toothpaste

It's a non negotiable for DD 5 but we do have a speaking toothbrush a transformers one that makes it more fun and let's her know how much longer to brush for

My daughter is 8 and I have always told her that if she doesn’t brush her teeth twice a day they will fall out and her school photos won’t look good if she has no teeth .
She has beautiful teeth .

Exiting toothpaste flavours and coloured toothbrushes have been most successful here - makes the routine more fun!

Brushed their teeth from teething. It's part of the routine here. They brush their own and then we may finish off, we explain the consequences of not brushing.

We have a teeth brushing song, which has to be sung in a variety of silly voices (pirate, fairy, spaceman etc). It's become a fun part of our routine for our 4 and 2 year olds.

Start early, make it a non negotiable habit, make it fun too (if you can), let them pick their own tooth brushes and toothpaste from a selection you've already picked and make visiting the dentist a normal thing to do. When my son wasn't brushing properly the dentist gave him tablets to dissolve which showed up the plaque on his teeth and that was helpful to show him where he was missing so he could fix it.

We have a sign in the bathroom that says
“You don’t have to brush all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep”

With difficulty. The stripey toothpaste is the go to brand though!

Going to the dentist regularly and reading books about other people going to the dentist. Gives it all a sense of importance somehow, which seems to help ours (4 and 2) to cooperate.

Also let them choose their own toothbrushes.

And Elmo’s ‘brush your teeth’ and other teeth brushing songs helped when my eldest was younger.

Getting into the habit of caring for your teeth is so important.

It’s been difficult with my 7 year old, a battle to even get her into the bathroom! We’ve had books about a girl with black teeth and she fully understood the importance, she’s just headstrong. Not sure where she gets that from!
But recently, she’s becoming a lot more aware of hygiene and more forthcoming doing what she needs to do.
My only advice to anyone is perseverance!