I read somewhere that it has been found that many children suffer from mouth cancer due to lack of proper oral hygiene. It is funny how many of us still think that children, due to the fact that their teeth are not fully developed, are safe from such a deadly disease.

I am a parent and I know how difficult it can be to get a child to brush their teeth once a day let alone twice. Getting children to brush twice a day requires diligent parents, I don’t know if I am diligent or not but I make sure that my little ones brush their teeth twice a day. Actually most of the time children do pick certain behavior from their parents, and when a parent makes sure that they brush even in the evening which is the hardest task of all, children see this and they fall into practice naturally.

Children are children, and there are things that you can’t just force them to do when they don’t want to, and if you force them to do things they don’t want then a parent is risking rejection from their children. Like many children, mine are not exceptional, but what I do with my little boys is that when it is time for brushing I do it with them so that they see how I brush my teeth, and also to interest them in doing important things like brushing, I decided to sing with them at least every morning about the benefits of brushing their teeth, this way they feel more loved and also enjoy the task. It’s no easy task waking up every morning to sing and dance around like a three year old, but it’s worth the effort trying to keep my children healthy and free from disease.

Something else that a parent can do to interest a child in brushing their teeth is by getting them interesting tooth brush specially made for children which are soft and smaller in size just enough to fit in their small mouths and a special tooth paste specially formulated for children within certain age group of course depending with age of the child or children.  My son and my nephew who are both three year old, use Aquafresh Milk Teeth Toothpaste  a special caring formula which is essential for maintaining children’s teeth.

As they grow up their teeth need a bit of a boost due to a change in their diet, by using Milk Teeth Toothpaste everyday helps them stay healthy and strong, and these boys enjoy brushing their teeth because of the small things that I make sure are in place.

Also not many of us know that a beautiful smile leads to more than a healthy lifestyle and a clean mouth; it could be the backdrop of a child’s self-esteem, I remember a girl I went to school with who never smiled because of her teeth, it was very depressing for me to see her sad all the time because of her teeth. Just as the old cliché, Pictures say a thousand words, when you see children who don’t show their teeth in pictures, you can bet that child is self-conscious about their smile, whether from tooth decay or the changed color of the enamel on their teeth and this can have a huge negative impact in their lives.

Nonetheless, many young children do not take much interest in brushing their teeth or having a bright white smile until they are in their teens and by this time it’s usually too late, not because they have been really bad children, but it is because parents are too busy to care, only realizing later when they have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to the dentist for them to realize that the problem would have prevented early in life.

It is not just brushing, children should also be taught how to floss or parents should floss their children’s teeth when they are about two or three year old, so that by age eight, the child may be able to do flossing on his own, and with no supervision. Once in a while mouth wash can help keep a child’s oral hygiene on tabs, but only with guidance from the parents, so that they don’t overdose.

Good dental care should be something taught to children early in their lives. The best way to begin is by setting a good example. If you show your children that you are brushing, flossing, and rinsing with mouth wash, then they will most likely do the same things. A visit to Nakumatt down town at UTC Mall to get a good brush and tooth paste for the children can be a great way of starting to protect your child from any lurking diseases of the mouth.

Email: kayitesius@yahoo.com