Today we had our six month dental appointments, and once again we had five cavity free kids. The dentist is always pleasantly surprised when all five kids pass inspection.
I am not guaranteeing your children will be cavity free if you use my ideas, but it has worked for our family.
- No soda! Soda is beyond a special treat at our house, it is almost unheard of. Soda has absolutely no health benefits so why introduce it to your children. I had no cavities until I became a soda drinker.
- No juice. I rarely purchase juice, although my children do love it. My little ones never have juice in a sippy cup or bottle. When you are old enough to drink out of a real cup you can have juice, about 4 times a year.
- No gummies, fruit roll-ups, hard candy, and other sticky sweets. I don’t buy them so they don’t eat them. They stick to your children’s teeth and are very difficult for little kids to brush away.
- Cool toothbrushes. This might sound silly but kids really do like to brush more often with the help of Hello Kitty or a Power Ranger.
- Toothpaste they like. Before I would purchase toothpaste that was the least expensive, and sometimes the kids hated the flavor. While I can find their favorites on sale most of the time I will pay full price if necessary, it’s cheaper than a filling.
- Supervision. Kids need help brushing their teeth. Some kids can brush on their own at a young age, but others need help for much longer.
- Reminders. Every morning before school starts they are reminded to brush their teeth after breakfast. If I didn’t remind them sometimes they would forget.
- Incentive. This may not work for your family or budget but we pay our kids to stay cavity free. For every cavity free visit they are paid $10. This is a lot of money to a six year old. A filling costs us about $35 dollars per tooth, so they are rewarded for being diligent in their brushing.
So far our dental visits have been uneventful and profitable for our children. They like going to the dentist and are working hard to earn their $10 stay cavity free.
