Teeth Brushing is a nightmare!

Submitted by Kitty on Tue, 07/20/2010 - 21:14.

Oral/Mouth Problems

Has anyone any suggestions on how to get my 3 year old son to let us brush his teeth. We've tried rewarding him, giving him time out, explaining the consequences of not brushing etc. He runs away, refuses, cries, gets angry... anything he can think of to avoid us doing it and it's taking up a huge amount of time in the mornings and evenings and is frustrating.

I'd appreciate any suggestions!

Thanks

Kitty

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Submitted by Kitty on Fri, 07/23/2010 - 05:20.

I've found some suggestions so thought I'd post them here in case they help anyone else. I'll give them a go and post if they work!

1) make it a race with another person.

2) try setting an egg time and see who can brush theirs best within the 2 minutes.

3) brush a toys teeth first, or whilst they are having their teeth brushed to distract them.

4) let them choose a new toothbrush (already tried this!).

5) try an electric toothbrush.

6) say brushing teeth is a game to chase bugs out of your mouth and off your teeth. let's brush bugs!

7) try a rubber toothbrush or fingertoothbrush - try places like mothercare or online.

8) try brushing with a cloth and some toothpaste.

9) try using a berry flavoured toothbrush instead of mint (ASDA sell a Mr.Men one and we have tried this).

10) let him brush a parents whilst having his brushed.

11) Apparently there is a Barney toothbrush song to sing:

When you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to 1, and you want to have a little fun, you brush your teeth! When you get out of bed at a quarter to 4, try to do a little more, brush your teeth!

12) Try a brush with music or flashing.

13) reward for good teeth brushing. or only let them do a favourite activity after teethrushing.

14) brush teeth as a family and show lots of enthusiasm for it.

15) give your child a mirror and see if they will brush their teeth themselves.

16) take them to a dentist for them to explain to your child why it's so important to brush.

17) give your child 5 minutes warning before brushing so they have time to finish what they are doing - this may avoid resistance if they are busy playing.

18) there is a new product on the market that may help some people whose child won't brush their teeth - it's called the Brush Baby and the website is: http://www.brushbaby.co.uk/About-The-Brush-Baby/

Submitted by EGID mum on Fri, 10/15/2010 - 21:56.

Kitty, have you thought about the taste off the tooth paste?

Holly's twin HATES to brush his teeth also and we get tears and upset, turns out it is the taste he hates not the brushing.

Dawny x

Submitted by Kitty on Sat, 10/16/2010 - 14:52.

Hi,

I've tried all the flavours I can find in the shops but he still hates them. The Occupational Therapist has told me to try a vibrating toothbrush but so far I haven't found one with a small enough head (he has only just turned 4 and hates large toothbrushes).

Thanks for the advice.

Kitty

Submitted by EGID mum on Sun, 10/17/2010 - 10:44.

http://www.healthcare4all.co.uk/braun-oralb-900tx-kids-electric-toothbru...

seems to be the only one i can find that is suitable for a small child, hope it helps and good luck :D

Dawn x x

Submitted by Guest on Sun, 02/12/2012 - 11:09.

I recently tried Brush-Baby's Baby & Toddler toothpaste. It's a really delicious Apple flavour, even smells great to.

Submitted by Kitty on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 17:31.

well... i'm glad to say i can report some progress!! He still hates having it done and its a battle to even get him into the bathroom! BUT once he's in there, and he's agreed to have it done, he is a bit calmer than before and whats really helping is counting!!! Yes, after i've tried everything under the sun and spent our life savings on brushes, toothpastes and bribes, it comes down to counting!!!

Counting seems to give him a target and an idea of how long he has to tolerate it. So we say we'll count to 10 and then stop for a break. He can cope with this most of the time.

He also likes to have a towel in his hand so if any paste touches his lips, he can get rid of it immediately. It has turned all our handtowels pink but its worth it! We also encourage him look in the mirror now and he's starting to say he can see dirt on his teeth and wants to get rid of it so that encourages him to let us try to brush it away (sometimes!!!!)

When he has ulcers or is very sensitive, we sometime go back to the finger brush or avoid the areas of his mouth that he is afraid of us touching. We find, if he's sore and we accidentally brush near it, then he loses trust, so its better to avoid that area of his mouth completely for a few days.

We haven't quite got to the point where he's comfortable with it being done, and hes' still quite anxious (and it still takes AGES each morning and night!), but we've made some progress and for that i'm very grateful!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/16/2012 - 17:15.

Have you tried getting some of the tablets that show up the plaque on the teeth we do this with our son and he has to brush all the pink off. Enjoys being able to say how clean they are and that he has a pink tongue!

Submitted by Kitty on Mon, 04/16/2012 - 21:15.

Hiya, thats a really good idea! i hadn't thought of that. I will look into that.

He has got a better lately - it still takes ages to get him to the bathroom to have it done and we get every excuse in the book but once we finally get him to agree to have it done he's calmer than he used to be. He now only screams and fights if he's tired or in pain.

we went to an OT session recently and they told us how deep pressure can help with sensory issues and so we are using this technique - he pushes against us whilst we brush. He seems to find this helpful (once you convince him to do it!).

Thanks!