Teach Your Child Proper Oral Hygiene with Fun Facts about Dental Health

A child’s eyes are always fixed on things that capture their imagination. Once their minds are stirred, responding to a request will always be met with a nod and wide-eyed anticipation.

But as children have very limited attention span, and, as they attend and respond to a variety of stimulants at the same time, you will find yourself, at times, competing with them to help your child to distinguish noise from logical messages.

Such may be noticeable, especially when you’re teaching your child about personal hygiene. Consider those times when your kids won’t clean themselves up. Instead of doing as he/she is told, your child says, “a minute!” or changes the TV’s channel, or turn the volume up, or do something else just to indirectly tell you “you can’t make me do what I don’t want to”?

Frustrating, right?

Now, remember those times that you find yourself at your wit’s end, especially when the youngster would start to show defiance and that piercing look that says, “Really? Says who? Still, you keep your cool and just slowly repeat yourself, thinking that perhaps your child would be ready to listen the second time.

Remember, you are not alone. This is a common concern. To make things a bit comfortable for both of you, here’s what you can do:

1. Talk to your child. Before you can get a response from your child or oblige him/her to follow instructions, or even listen to you, both of you needs to be on the same page. A similar meaning needs to be established between the two of you. Focus on what can be done, rather than what has not yet been done. Think of a solution to the problem, not reiterate the problem.
2. Be gentle, loving, and steady. As you let yourself be heard, you need to make sure that your words would turn on, not turn off. Be gentle and loving, yet firm and consistent.
3. Focus on what you can control. There’s just too much to think about in a single interaction. Thus, you cannot force a child to do something he or she is not prepared or don’t want to do. Instead of frustrating yourself (and your child), consider how you can capture your child’s attention first, then one by one, train him to do as you would like him to (brush his teeth, change his clothes, keep his things neatly, etc). A reward-system might just do the trick.

   You can also shower your child with praise (as a form of reward) for every conforming action that he or she displays.

Teaching about hygiene to your kids need not be a grueling time for both of you. Moments like this should be cherished and be considered as a way to bond with your child. You can make it fun by sharing stories as well as interesting information about the teeth and the mouth. There are a number of fun teeth facts for kids that you can start with. Here are just a few of them:

• Kids in prehistoric times probably did not suffer from tooth decay as sugar was not yet in their diet, says the American Dental Association.
• A toothpick is the object that most often chokes Americans.
• There are more people who use blue toothbrushes than red ones.
• The tongue’s print separates one from another like the fingerprints.
• Kids laugh around 400 times a day; grown-ups about 15 times.
• More than 300 types of bacteria contribute to dental plaque.

READ: 10 Interesting Facts about Children’s Dental Health You Should Know

Keeping your child responsive, especially when it concerns health, will be more of a joy once you learn to see what makes your child’s imagination run wild with anticipation. Have more fun dental facts you already tried yourself? Why not share it with us that that we, too, may grin with delight.