Kid hates brushing his teeth....

LDB

Registered User
Forum Member
Nov 18, 2007
18,725
60
48
39
Bay Area, CA
uh.....yell at him and make him do it old school way :shrug: worked for my kid :0074

Today it's just teeth tomorrow might be something else u'll be asking us advice for,put ur foot down daddyo :0008

oh trust me I do put my foot down, I just dont feel like shoving a toothbrush down his throat. Oh does he know when im pissed, his mom on the other hand is a different story... lol
 

saint

Go Heels
Forum Member
Jan 10, 2002
9,501
140
63
Balls Deep
I hear you on this one, since I'm a pediatric dentist and I have a child of my own. I know what it's like to not want to fight them at the end of the day when you are tired and running of fumes.

Unfortunately it's just one of those things where you need to make it where there is no choice. Kids at that age want to do it themselves but until they have the manual dexterity to tie their shoe laces you need to try to get in there after them. Definitely encourage them to do it themselves and let them go at if for a short time but get in after them. The suggestions to pick out their own tooth brush are good. You can also get a little hourglass that runs for maybe 30 secs or so and it helps the kids physically see how long we want them to brush.

At the end of the day unfortunately for some kids they just don't care what you do they don't want to do it. That's how my son is. But that's when you just need to man up, be a parent, and make your kid do it/do it yourself. The toughest children I deal with are the ones who run their household. Sometimes I just don't know what to say when a parent expects me to work miracles with their child after spending 30 min with them when they've given them 5 years of running the show.

I'm very glad that you take such an interest in brushing at all, many parents just throw in the towel so for that I commend you- :0074
 

saint

Go Heels
Forum Member
Jan 10, 2002
9,501
140
63
Balls Deep
If you think visuals will help this will put a good scare in them! We have a few of these at my office-

1_40733_FS.jpg
 

LDB

Registered User
Forum Member
Nov 18, 2007
18,725
60
48
39
Bay Area, CA
saint, thanks for the advise... your a pediatric dentist huh? I have a few questions, can I get your email... ? thanks buddy...
 

saint

Go Heels
Forum Member
Jan 10, 2002
9,501
140
63
Balls Deep
saint, thanks for the advise... your a pediatric dentist huh? I have a few questions, can I get your email... ? thanks buddy...

sure get it from jack no prob...it's a secondary email post in this thread when you shoot one over and I'll get it-
 

CryBoy

Registered User
Forum Member
Nov 12, 2000
2,853
27
48
Arlington, TX
saint

saint

What's the cost of sealants? The reason I ask is I am deciding whether to buy dental insurance. Dental insurance for the entire family is roughly $35/month.
 

CryBoy

Registered User
Forum Member
Nov 12, 2000
2,853
27
48
Arlington, TX
saint

saint

Depends on the practice but usually around 50$ per.

$50 x 20 = $1000 (cost of sealants for 20 teeth)

$35 x 12 months = $420 (cost of dental insurance)

Dental insurance is the way to go if sealants are suggested.

My 3-year old daughter has two visible cavities. I now brush her teeth very carefully each morning and night. After each brushing, she goggles with ACT anticavity flouride rinse. Do you recommend sealants for her with this regimen? I know it's hard to make any medical suggestion without physically seeing the patient.

Thanks for all your contribution.
 

saint

Go Heels
Forum Member
Jan 10, 2002
9,501
140
63
Balls Deep
$50 x 20 = $1000 (cost of sealants for 20 teeth)

$35 x 12 months = $420 (cost of dental insurance)

Dental insurance is the way to go if sealants are suggested.

My 3-year old daughter has two visible cavities. I now brush her teeth very carefully each morning and night. After each brushing, she goggles with ACT anticavity flouride rinse. Do you recommend sealants for her with this regimen? I know it's hard to make any medical suggestion without physically seeing the patient.

Thanks for all your contribution.

Typically only teeth with grooves are sealed. So in the case of a child with primary teeth, if sealants are done it's only on the molars, which they have 8 of. Sealants aren't placed on the other teeth that are smooth. Sealants are very technique sensitive and the teeth need to be isolated really well for them to last. Meaning on most 3 year olds it's not happening or worth it.

How are the fillings being done? Sedation of some sort?

In children within this age range, I'd say the biggest cause of cavities is juice. You can brush till the cows come home but it's not going to help if juice is there with high frequency. It's kind of opposite what you would think but it would be better for your daughter's teeth if she drank a gallon of juice in one sitting. However, what typically happens is they have some w/ breakfast, go play and then an hour or two later have some with a snack, then some at lunch, etc. The high frequency of juice is probably what is causing the cavities. The body can't fight that. It's especially there in kids who have a sippy cup by their side all day w/ juice in it.

It's really eye-opening to actually measure out how little juice is recommended by pediatricians in children that are 3. really it's only about 4-6 oz..which is not a lot at all. But the frequency is key. Juice with a meal or two is fine, dilute it, but in between it needs to be water. I can't tell you the destruction I see from apple juice, juicy juice, capri suns, hi-c, gatorade..the list goes on. The biggest problem is no one is telling the parents, the pediatricians are clueless about the teeth but they are the ones with the most access.

Really the point of insurance is to cover things if fillings need to be done, etc. In a way it's like gambling, and murphys law will tell you that when you don't have the insurance that's when you'll need it for a lot of treatment. But that's a personal decision.
 

dawgball

Registered User
Forum Member
Feb 12, 2000
10,652
39
48
50
I'm surprised you didn't mention sodas.

I cringe every time I see a child drinking a freaking soft drink.

Wake up, people!!
 

LDB

Registered User
Forum Member
Nov 18, 2007
18,725
60
48
39
Bay Area, CA
I'm surprised you didn't mention sodas.

I cringe every time I see a child drinking a freaking soft drink.

Wake up, people!!

tell me about it.... i see kids a year old drinking soda, are you freaking kidding me... :scared
 
Last edited:

snoozer

Registered User
Forum Member
Aug 5, 2004
1,201
7
38
Berkley, MI
My neighbor's kids are like that... she is not even 2years old and went to the doc and was told she had 2 cavities.

We go over their house and the kids have pop in thier sippie cups and candy in their snack cups.

They were like 'I don't understand, we brush her teeth every morning'

I didn't know if I should :mj07: at their stupidity or :facepalm: in disgust
 

LDB

Registered User
Forum Member
Nov 18, 2007
18,725
60
48
39
Bay Area, CA
My neighbor's kids are like that... she is not even 2years old and went to the doc and was told she had 2 cavities.

We go over their house and the kids have pop in thier sippie cups and candy in their snack cups.

They were like 'I don't understand, we brush her teeth every morning'

I didn't know if I should :mj07: at their stupidity or :facepalm: in disgust

:mj07:

dumb parents... kids shouldn't drink soda until there in the teens imo
 

snoozer

Registered User
Forum Member
Aug 5, 2004
1,201
7
38
Berkley, MI
yup...

It's the same as letting your kids sleep in your bed... you set the expectation early that it is not acceptable. If you give in, it becomes the norm and becomes 100 times harder to fix.

You give a kid option between candy and vegetable and they will take the candy and expect it all the time.... give them an option between 2 different vegetables and they will eat the vegetable
 

gardenweasel

el guapo
Forum Member
Jan 10, 2002
40,575
226
63
"the bunker"
anything wrong with those "spin brushes"?...throw a few AA batteries in it and all the kid has to do is move it around in his mouth....

they seem to work pretty good...cheap enough...and you can get em at any drugstore/pharmacy/walmarts....

.......................


Kids SpinBrush

As hard as it may be to believe, my kids love to brush their teeth. But that wasn?t always the case. Long ago I resorted to buying the character toothbrushes [Star Wars, Looney Tunes, Blue?s Clue?s etc] to try and motivate them to brush their teeth. All that did was frustrate me ? I was forking out about $3.00 [even on sale] per toothbrush and I still had to prompt them to brush after every meal.

We were at Wal-Mart one fateful day and came across a partial display of Dr. John?s Spinbrush. The clerk was still stocking the shelf and had a hard time keeping up with several people who were tossing them into their carts. I asked a few people what the big deal was and one lady turned to me and said ?My son brushes his teeth without me telling him ? does that say something about it?? I figured that they had to be at least $10.00 a piece and almost fell over when I saw $3.97 on the hangtag.

I asked my boys if they wanted to gives these a try and they gave me a less than enthused shoulder shrug. The true test came later that evening when I opened the first package and handed it over to my youngest son. After the giggling stopped [It twickles mommy] I realized that he?d been brushing for over two minutes and showed no signs of wanting to stop. I called the rest of the brood in and handed out the toothbrushes to the troops and soon it was a chorus of giggles, buzzing and spitting. That?s when I knew that the SpinBrush would always have a place in our bathroom.

Some of the more popular styles available currently are the mermaid, racecar, cellular phone, rocket ship and an army camouflage design. My boys have taken to the racecar and rocket ship more than others, but sometimes they have to live with the camouflage one when there?s a huge sale.

If replacement batteries are needed, remove the safety screw from the bottom of the SpinBrush and insert new batteries according to the diagram. Older models used 2 AA batteries, but the newer designs use 2 AAA batteries. Check the insert inside the package for further instructions or details on which batteries work best with the toothbrush.


http://www.epinions.com/review/Kid_s_Crest_SpinBrush/content_58687983236

http://www.spinbrush.com/Kids.html
 
Last edited:

saint

Go Heels
Forum Member
Jan 10, 2002
9,501
140
63
Balls Deep
anything wrong with those "spin brushes"?...throw a few AA batteries in it and all the kid has to do is move it around in his mouth....

they seem to work pretty good...cheap enough...and you can get em at any drugstore/pharmacy/walmarts....


They're fine. Whatever gets them to brush, go with it.
 
Bet on MyBookie
Top