Brush your kids teeth!!!

For those of you who don't know I have moved to Virginia and I am working in an office seeing mostly children.  I love it!  Kids are so funny.  All the time I hear parents say that their kids brush their teeth every day.  But when I look in their mouths its obvious they are either not brushing at all or they are doing a very poor job.  I have three kids of my own and I would love to tell you that they all have made it through life cavity free.  But I would be lying.  Cavities happen, they happen to kids and adults, but the fact remains, if there is no plaque on their teeth then there will be no cavities.  Cavities are caused by plaque bacteria and that is it (I am excluding developmental defects and genetic issues with teeth).  So how can you prevent cavities in your child?  Easy, brush and floss their teeth.  Yes I said floss!!  I love to tell my patients that they only have to floss the teeth they want to keep.  We will end up pulling all the rest sooner or later.

What is the best way to floss your kids teeth?  One method is to sit down on a couch and have your child lay their head in your lap and then floss the same way you would floss your own teeth.  I happen to like floss handles better.  There are several different types.  The most common are the single use and toss type.  They also make a handle that allows you to change just the floss head.  It really doesn't matter which one you get as long as you get them and use them.

When children are little I would say under the age of 10 they need at least some level of supervision.  Young children do not have the manual dexterity they need to brush effectively.  So please mom and dad, brush your child's teeth!!
That is all