At What Age Do They Start Brushing Their Own Teeth?

Oh my, I could only imagine my 4 year olds mouth if I let him do it alone.
I still brush my 7 year olds teeth. I do the morning, and she does the night.

My 4 year old brushes her own teeth and I usually go behind her and finish up the job. The dentist gives her an A+!

Well you have gotten some not so helpful answers. I understand your question isn't so much about ability as doing a good job, so to all of you who responded you let your kids brush their teeth as soon as they could hold a brush, take a chill pill. When my kids turn about 4 we have a rule where they do it in the morning and we do it before bed. I STILL do this with my 10 year old. Yes that's right I still brush my 10 year olds teeth. Why?! Not because he isn't capable (sort of) but because I pay for his dental work. I don't know about you but by the time I was 10 I had a couple of fillings. None of my kids have cavities, this is why. Of course give the the opportunity to try to brush their teeth, but I still think it is a good idea to do them yourself until they prove that they do and adult quality job (maybe 12?!) my kids aren't there yet.

my daughters dentist reccomends aiding them brushing till the age of 10.. i brush my 5 year olds teeth still. even more so since shes getting her first 2 adult teeth in

My daughter started brushing her own teeth just after turning 4, but not totally on her own. She starts and does it herself at first, and then I go in and finish up - it's giving her some practice doing it on her own and I am still there to make sure it gets done well enough. She's now 5. My mom did the same thing with us and we were not totally on our own brushing our teeth until we were about 8. But I don't understand why you are having your son lie down to brush his teeth. We've always had her stand at the sink, so she can rinse and spit afterwards, just like any grown-up would do.

I kept doing it for my youngest until he was five and a half. That way I knew it was done right! However if a kid is screaming and crying to do it himself I would let him. If your son is OK with you doing it, I would keep doing it. It's not going to turn him into a dependent Mama's boy, just a kid with well brushed teeth. Four and five yr olds need supervision so you're right there anyway, not like you can go do something else.

I let my kids brush their own teeth as soon as they grab the toothbrush and want to do it. Yes, my 2 year old doesn't do a good job, but he's happy.

ours where 4 or 5 when they started doing it on their own, but an inspection with a flashlight is part of our night time ritual.

Although my daughter started brushing her teeth when she was about 2 1/2 years old, she still doesn't do a good job all of the time. (She just turned 5.) I usually brush my teeth along with her (modeling the correct way to brush), and I always check her teeth after she brushes them, sometimes re-brushing if needed.

I concur with the answers given. It's about 4 they do it alone but with supervision of course. Always have to check and be sure.

our baby has been brushing her teeth since she was 9 months old. We let her brush first, them we brush them after. Try letting you little one brush his own teeth first and them take over. This way he can learn how to brush while still getting the benifits of having his parents do it. I think each child is different and there is no magical age.

5 is when we started. I still check at the end and normally do a quick scrub.

I have always heard that dentists recommend that the parent brushes the child's teeth after them until the age of six...

My 2yo will brush her own teeth, but then I always brush them after her, and floss for her as well.

If you let your son brush his own, I would give him an electric brush so that the brush will do more work than he can on his own.

Our dentist recommends us brushing our kids teeth until age 7 and flossing for them until age 10. We usually brush our kids 4 & 6 at night and they do their own in the morning.

I have twin 3.5 year olds. We let them brush their teeth first and try to encourage them to get everywhere, but it's still a developing skill. They are good at the chew on the brush method of brushing though. After they have a turn, then my husband or I take a turn to make sure all the teeth get done.

We probably started them when they were around 2, but we didn't start doing it at the bathroom sink until they were around 3 since they used the non-fluoride toothpaste and didn't need to spit.

The dentist has suggested that we start using a little bit of fluoride toothpaste but we really need to practice spitting. I tell them to spit and they swallow first, then spit. :-)

Until I feel confident that they have grasped the skill to do a thorough job on all their teeth, I will continue to do a pass after they are done. I have considered trying out one of the rotating brushes to see if it encourages them to do a better job and stop chewing on the brush.

My daughter started brushing her own at two or so, but I always rebrush them. I still go over them after her and our ped dentist agrees that parents should help until about age 8 or so.

I have done the same as Julie G

My daughter is 20 months and brushes her own teeth every day. She has been doing it since about the age of 1. It isn't about cleanliness, in my opinion. It is about teaching her how to do it on her own. I would let her wash her hair and body if I thought she could keep the soap under control.

My dentist recommends helping until about 7. Since I got an electric toothbrush for my son, I feel more comfortable with him doing most of it himself. He's 5.

Children under the age of 12 lack the fine motor skills to brush teeth correctly. Even if you let your child brush on her/his own you have to double check and double brush.

Sure they may be able to do it by themselves at that age.
BUT if you want it done well... and thoroughly, then you can go in there and brush it more.
Kids this age, do not do it well or thoroughly.
It ALSO depends on their fine-motor coordination.

Our kids' Dentist says they need to brush for 2 minutes. All quadrants of their mouth. A kid, ain't that patient. Nor do they do it for a full 2 minutes.
So, even if our son is now 6... he can brush by himself, but I go in there and do it more thoroughly. He doesn't do it well.
My 9 year old... of course brushes by herself by now. But she just does it for like 15 seconds. Not good enough. So then, I stand by her, and tell her... "keep going... that is not 2 minutes..." and still she hates doing it for 2 minutes nor is she thorough.
But well, we do the best we can.

So, Ditto Jacy B. and Janette A., below.

Wow. When my children were old enough to grasp things on purpose and stick things in their mouths to gnaw and chew without dropping, I gave them their very own toothbrushes. That was before they even had teeth. By the time they were 9 months old they were already holding out their tooth brushes for their gum cleansing gel to do it themselves with a little help. :-)

By a year old with a mouth full of teeth they were brushing with the fluoride-free tooth paste and supervision and we would help as needed. If they were in a mood to refuse to brush their own teeth then we took over.

I'm shocked to read that there are four year olds who aren't brushing their own teeth yet. I'm just flabbergasted. My own dentist started seeing my children when they turned 2 or 3 years old and would ask how they were doing with gum and tooth brushing, and that's how she suggested doing it. We've never had any issues with this method. All of my friends and family have done it this way too.