Oral Hygiene: How Much Time Should Children Spend Brushing Their Teeth?

Kids may not be thrilled about spending time doing something that appears to be less fun as they clean their teeth. However, brushing your teeth regularly is essential for maintaining health and avoiding cavities. So, how long should kids brush their teeth? The ideal tooth brushing time should be two minutes, especially for children. The kid’s dentist recommends brushing your mouth for 30 seconds in each of the four quadrants. To help them keep track of time, children can use a timer or stopwatch.

Brush Your Teeth The Right Way

The ADA recommends that kids brush their teeth with a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. Then they should brush the top, bottom, and front of their teeth. To help with breath freshening, kids should also brush their tongues.

Brushing your teeth is not enough. You need to brush them properly. Here are some reasons why:

Cavity Prevention

The bacteria in children’s mouths turn sugar into acid when they eat sugary foods. This acid then erodes the tooth enamel, which can lead to cavities. By brushing your teeth, you remove sugar and bacteria that cause cavities.

Protect Your Teeth from Gum Disease

Bacteria that build on the gums and teeth cause gum disease. If not removed, these bacteria can cause inflammation of the gums and eventually lead to bone loss. Brushing teeth removes the bacteria from teeth and gums, which helps to keep them healthy.

Freshen Your Breath

Kids sometimes experience bad breath due to the foods they eat. The resultant embarrassment can make them self-conscious. Brushing teeth removes the food and bacteria from teeth, which helps to freshen breath.

Prevent Tooth Decay

Tooth decay is caused by acidic buildup on teeth, which comes from bacteria. When you brush your teeth, you remove food particles and bacteria that might cause tooth decay.

Healthy Teeth and Gums

Plaque is a bacteria that turns into tartar, which dental professionals can only remove. Kids remove plaque and tartar from their teeth when they brush. Brushing removes plaque and tartar, thus keeping kids’ teeth healthy.

How Frequent Should Kids Brush Their Teeth

The ADA recommends that kids brush their teeth at least twice a day. It helps remove the plaque and bacteria that can cause cavities and gum disease.

After every meal is the best time to brush your teeth. If that’s not possible, brush at least twice a day – morning and before bedtime.

It’s also important for kids to floss daily to remove plaque and bacteria between the teeth, which a toothbrush can’t reach.

Make Brushing Teeth Fun for Kids

Children’s dental health is very important. Encourage and teach kids that tooth brushing is fun. It will help them build an oral hygiene routine they can follow while growing up.

Here are some ideas on how to make your children feel involved in creating their daily routine and avoid future dental problems:

Let Them Choose

Let them choose their toothbrush and toothpaste. Many fun characters on both will help make brushing more enjoyable.

Play Music

Put on some tunes to make brushing more fun. It will help them brush for two minutes, which is kids dentist the recommended time.

Brush With Them

Brush your teeth with them or let them brush with other children. This way, they can see how important it is to take care of their teeth at a young age.

Make a Fun Chart

Making a chart to track their progress can be fun to see how well they are doing with their brushing. Record every milestone, like when the first tooth or permanent teeth emerges.

Reward Your Kids

Giving them a small treat after proper brushing will help them to associate brushing with something positive.

Children’s Dental Care

At Vista Family Dentistry, we know that dental hygiene begins at home. For this reason, we are committed to giving parents the right tools so they can help their children brush their teeth properly.

We provide a wide variety of services for families, including preventive, restorative, orthodontic, and children’s dentistry. At Vista Family Dentistry, our general dentists can always offer parents educational resources about dental care through videos and articles.

Proper dental care is essential for the overall health of our patients. We are committed to providing the best care for our patients and their families.

Your child’s dentist will have the best answer for how long your kids should brush their teeth. Contact our Waukesha, WI, family dental office today to book an appointment for your children and the entire family!