My daughter(4) just went for her dental check up - her teeth were perfectly fine. THen the hygenist showed her how to brush and told her she HAD to let Mommy brush her teeth after she was done brushing. I was a bit surprised because my daughter has been brushing her teeth without my doing it for almost 6 months. I saw my daughter was brushing all her teeth and for long enough etc. Then they gave her a sticker chart with spots for morning and night time brushing... we have only ever brushed at night. That was all I did and all she has done. Both she and I have great teeth, so I am wondering is this really necessary? If you brush a night how can they be dirty in the morning? I get that bacteria can grow but seriously?? If you do brush in the morning (and I am not opposed to starting to do that) what type of routine? When you first wake up? After breakfast? ANd of course at what age did your start brushing without you doing a follow up brush? (I still watch to make sure she gets them all).
Also I was little put out by the fact that she told my daughter I HAD to do it - don't tell her I am going to anything until you dicuss it with me 1st... do you think that was wrong of her or am I being to sensitive??
TIA - and as always I am not easily offended so if you think I am nuts just let me know :)
ETA - she also flosses with supervision.. I make sure she gets between all the teeth and do help her with it from time to time..
My son is 6. He brushes his teeth (himself) morning and night. He has a Sonicare, so it times him for two full minutes, and indicates when he should move to another section of this mouth. A couple of times a week, he'll ask me to brush for him, so I'll get in there and do it. He also uses a rinse at night.
In the morning we bush after breakfast/ before heading off to school. At night he brushes before bed.
For my 4 year old I brush and floss his teeth at night. He brushes his teeth in the morning.
For my 7 year old, she brushes at night and I go over it and floss it (she doesn't always do the best job). She brushes in the morning
Well, I think the "Mom has to do it" is likely par for the course for most families. When I was a nanny, I did a lot of toothbrushing, so it may be that the hygienist was actually saying this to help parents out by backing them up, not to undermine your authority.
In regard to how often we brush my son's teeth: his teeth get brushed twice a day; he does it in the morning and we do it at night. My son is NOT thorough with brushing and so we want to be sure that he gets practice AND that he doesn't get cavities.
I have my daughter brush twice a day, morning and before bed. Your mouth gets bacteria in the morning which causes bad breath and plaque buildup. Her dentist also asked that I brush after her just to be sure all the teeth are clean. He also suggested a rinse once a day.
Sometimes I have her brush during the day if she has been eating sweets.
My son is 9. I let him do the morning brush and at night he starts and I usually go over the teeth. I just figure nothing will be missed this way.
My 5-1/2YO brushes his own teeth - I insist - I told him the dentist was a little "crazy".... (They said the same thing to him.) But I do watch, and make sure it gets done right.
He brushes 2x a day, once in the AM, once before bed. Our family drinks a lot of water, and eats a lot of raw fruit & veggies... I'm hoping he's inherited his father's amazingly strong teeth, and not my family's. So far - no problems.
You're not nuts, just a little sensitive. Brushing twice a day is the norm for most. Some brush after every meal (so think 3 times a day). I've never heard that brushing once a day was enough.
My 5 yo brushes her teeth in the morning, and we floss and brush her teeth at night. Just as the dentist suggested. I bet we continue this for another year or two until we're certain that she is doing a thorough job. In the morning, we brush after breakfast.
My 2 yo kind of brushes her own teeth in the morning with some help from us on occasion. We brush her teeth at night. I count this as brushing her teeth once a day, since the morning brushing is not very thorough.
Hi, if people think your nut's they should read my post and problems lol,if my opinion matter's,I do agree they should not say thing's like that, but to some they do not consider that it might cause a dependancy issue later on, which I am guessing that might be a concern, also I think it's great that your daughter is brushing her own teeth, however I would check them every once in a while they can go bad so easily, as far as how often to brush that would depend alot on what she eats,so sugary things alway's after the rest just use common sense.
I don't like anyone telling my GD that I HAVE to do anything either. Even if it's something I should be doing, I don't like being told I HAVE to do something.
My GD and I have always brushed our teeth in the morning and evening. It's hard for me to imagine anyone not brushing their teeth in the morning. Have you ever heard of "morning breath"? It's not always pleasant!
Yes, brush and floss twice a day.
As for the routine, we always brush after breakfast.
I used to brush my GD's teeth for her until she was about 6. I just wanted to be sure they were done good and I couldn't get her to understand that her teeth has TWO sides and a top and both sides need to be brushed!
We brush in the morning after breakfast and right before bed. I can't imagine coming to work with morning dragon breath if I neglected to brush my teeth/tongue. And after drinking coffee? Forgetaboutit.
Count yourself geneticaly lucky. I am not. I could brush five times and eat veggies and water and get cavities.
DH puts the kdis on the bus and he does not bother to remind them to brush in the am often and he never follows up with a brush.
The kids brush every night at 9 and 7 most nights when i am busy or in a hurry, they do it themselves, I follow up as often as i can usually every other night. 9 yo had his first round of braces, just got them off, and I brushed for him everynight plus flossed for him.
My advice would be to set her up for good hygene and follow their advice to the T. make it a routine so when they are 10 they don't give you a hard time. I would honestly say I don't expect DS now 9 to brush independent until he is twelve, he just doen't do a good enough job.
Some hygenists are really particular, some aren't. I had one who would lecture me if any of my gums bled during my time with her, and one who never said a word except the usual greetings.
My 6 yr old brushes his own teeth in the morning and right before bed. I do floss his teeth - I first had to hold him down but now its part of our routine. I do it because he started losing his teeth right when he turned 5, so our dentist said that since he is losing his teeth that early, we better make sure his adult teeth doesn't get an early start in decaying.
Wow, yes you have to brush in the morning.
My girls 3 & 4 brush their own teeth, in the morning and at night. Sometimes, depending on how the night fire, they might skip a night, but they, and me and dad, all brush in the morning... Morning breath in peoples faces are a NoNo... They also use mouth wash every .morning. usually I am in there doing my hair if something while they brush, so I know they are doing it right. And dentist says they have pretty, strong, and healthy teeth, so we must be doing right.
2x's per day...
In the morning, after breakfast, before school..
Evening, before bed...
70% of the time, he does it, (he's 5) all by himself... Sometimes I go over it afterwards.. He LOVES kids mouthwash!
My 4 yr old brushes her own teeth but then I or my husband follows also, especially those back teeth. I have been trying to get my husband to brush her teeth midday but he "forgets". My older kids do brush their teeth before school, especially for bad breath. Ugh! They usually but not always also brush after school, after they have a snack. Then of course, night time. I use a washcloth on the baby's 2 teeth at night.
well in the end, it's your daughter, and her teeth, so the hygenist really doesn't have the best bedside manner if she worded it that way. just not really courteous or good customer service (and yes, you are a paying customer).
i never got why medical professionals are allowed to act all self righteous about how we treat our bodies, teeth, eyes, whatever. they should offer advice and help and support to do the right things, but not be patronizing, demanding, or scolding.
they provide a service, we are paying for it. we don't answer to them. i don't care how many degrees you have (or how much more money you make than i do) it's my body and i'm paying you to take care of it (or fix it, heal it, or what have you).
oh yeah, to answer your question, you are doing it more religiously than we are, we do 2x per day usually but not always. my son is 5 and i supervise but he does it himself. sometimes i will "check" for him just to make sure but he does a pretty good job.
Our dentist recommends that the parent finish up brushing for the child until around age 6. My kids brush twice a day and floss once a day. My son brushes independently, but my husband and I still help our daughter brush in the evenings (she brushes independently in the mornings).
I don't think the hygenist offensive. She probably thought she was helping you out, since most kids WANT to be independent and fuss when a parent helps brush.
Don't be so offended. I think the hygenist was just saying that to your daughter just so she would be thinking of good oral hygiene. You know, so she'd remember to brush her teeth lots and floss like the dentist says. And don't be so hard on the hygenist. Probably lots of people don't have their kids brush at all, and it is probably just a statement that she says to everyone.
My daughter is 4, I brush her teeth for her, otherwise she would not do it in any way shape or form correctly. My son is 9, and he still doesn't brush his teeth as well as I would like, although he has been brushing himself for about 3 years. Personally I don't think a four year old would properly brush her own teeth.
We brush twice a day, mainly the morning brush is for breath! Wow morning breath can be so gross.
My boys are 6, 4, and 1 and I brush their teeth in the morning and at night. We do it after breakfast or right before we leave the house in the morning. We also brush at night before bed. I think getting in the routine of 2x a day is just good habit. If you think she's doing a good job, then let her do it.
