Do you force tooth brushing?

sensoregurl · September 2011

I will talk to my dentist about this next month too when I go - but do you force the toothbrush? LO hates it and all I do is end up wrestling with him and barely get anything brushed. There's no way I could get his new molars brushed, he won't open his mouth for me. I feel like I'm doing more harm than good by just making it a traumatic, forced experience, but I'm also worried he won't ever do it and I'm hurting his teeth (not that I'm helping much now). Any other experiences?

MrsWindyCity · September 2011

We try to force it a lot more before bed than in the morning. Our dentist basically told us that in the morning it's ok to kind of let him play with the brush and not be as concerned about it, but to try our best to get a good brushing in before bed.

LoveMyMen · September 2011

Ugh I hate this! We do not do as good a job as we should. DS hates it!! In the morning he "brushes" his own teeth. Which is more like just chewing on the toothbrush. At night we still wipe them really good with a washcloth and he "brushes." I know we should proably be trying harder.

Ashleve · September 2011

we try to make it fun, and let her brush... we sing little songs, and let her walk around with her brush. she loooves her toothbrush now and asks for it before bed. hey- she's gotta keep those teeth strong for biting her friends at school... siiiiiiigh.

JMH_squared · September 2011

This is a battle every.single.day in our house. I'm not even sure how to force it. I mean she shuts her mouth so tight! I can get the first initial brush in, mostly front teeth, and then is extremely hard to get anything further! Sometimes DH holds her practically upside down and she will giggle so I can get some of her back teeth that way, but even then, there are times that she is not opening her mouth. I'm not sure what to do!

I have such a fear of my child having yellow teeth. I know, I'm crazy... but DH made a comment once "looks like he ate a box of yellow crayons"... and now I'm paranoid. Granted, that was about an adult and it was gross, but still!

Dreamsicle23 · September 2011

I force it. They get used to it quick if you stick to it though. I had horrible rotten teeth as a kid because I really don't think my mom ever brushed my teeth before I was in kindergarten. I don't want him to go through all the fillings and extractions I did. I'm sure brushing his teeth against his will is less traumatic than having to get that big novocaine needle and getting drilled.

glasgow_girl · September 2011

DD has to be forced to give her toothbrush back. She has loved watching us brush teeth forever, and was super excited to get her own brush, and now stands at the sink and says "teeth, teeth".

It'll click eventually.

eSynergy · September 2011

Have you tried an electric toothbrush? We let DS "play" with an electric one (just a cheap one from the drugstore) and that's been much easier than the manual one. All he has to do is touch a tooth with it, and it gets it clean. I do try to move it around his mouth a bit, but when he resists, I let go and give him a few seconds to "regroup." I'm sure it'll become a fight in the future, but for now we're just trying to have fun with it.

sensoregurl · September 2011

eSynergy:
Have you tried an electric toothbrush? We let DS "play" with an electric one (just a cheap one from the drugstore) and that's been much easier than the manual one. All he has to do is touch a tooth with it, and it gets it clean. I do try to move it around his mouth a bit, but when he resists, I let go and give him a few seconds to "regroup." I'm sure it'll become a fight in the future, but for now we're just trying to have fun with it.

Nice! I like this idea. He loves motors - I may try this.

ANJ410 · September 2011

I wouldn't force it, he will eventually do it. My son didn't like getting his teeth brushed as a toddler. He would squirm and fight me. I kept trying, but the majority of the time he wasn't having it, so his teeth did not get brushed very well. As soon as he turned 3 all of a sudden he wanted to brush his teeth all by himself. He was tall enough to reach the sink if he stood on a stepstool and he was proud of himself afterwards. Now it is just a regular part of our routine and he is old enough to understand that it is unhealthy for his teeth if he doesn't brush them.

My DD likes having her teeth brushed, but after like 5 seconds of brushing she grabs the brush and just wants to chew on it, so her teeth don't really get cleaned as good as they should, but as she gets older she will get the hang of it too.

Pookster1020 · September 2011

My little guy loves his electric tooth brush. He actually lets me brush his teeth with it and then I let him "brush" his teeth with it. He gave us a lot of problems with the regular tooth brush but loves this.

Quiksilver620 · September 2011

it usually doesn't get that far, but I would force it if needed. My cousin's DS had to have a tooth pulled at 5 years old because he didn't like to brush

superaunt · September 2011

i took her with me to the store once and we looked at the toothbrushes. this was around when she first started getting into "choo choos" so she wanted the Thomas spin brush. i also already had one that plays an ABC song for the duration in which she is to brush, but she liked holding it more than actually brushing. so now i sit her on the sink after bath, give her the Thomas tooth brush, turn on the ABC brush and she "brushes" while i brush mine. she never refuses or fights us. and now that she's more used to the spinning (she wasn't fond of it at first), she will let me spin-brush her teeth.

ncbouchard · September 2011

LoveMyMen:
Ugh I hate this! We do not do as good a job as we should. DS hates it!! In the morning he "brushes" his own teeth. Which is more like just chewing on the toothbrush. At night we still wipe them really good with a washcloth and he "brushes." I know we should proably be trying harder.

This is what we deal with too...so hard! Especialdly when DS is teething and all he wants to do is bite down on something!

Smootchy · September 2011

I tried letting him choose his brush, but it didn't seem to help... Although I didn't put a spin brush in the mix. Maybe we will try this. Sometimes it's not too bad. Other days (most days) it's horrid... Just depends how much fight hubs or I have in us that day. I know, we suck at tooth brushing

diana.filipi · September 2011

Yes, we do force it both morning and evening. We rarely have to but if need be I will come and hold her hands down in her lap while DH brushes her teeth. She's really good about having them brushed to be honest so even when I do have to come and hold her hands down she relents quickly and I can let go.

We brush her teeth while she's still buckled into her booster seat after breakfast and dinner. We've been doing it for months. I checked the baby book. We started morning and evening brushing at 7 months and have been doing it since. They get accustomed if you stick to your guns and always do it. It's just what happens next you know.

Cherryblossoms07 · September 2011

When DD was younger if she refused the tooth brush I just put gauze on my finger and ran it across her teeth. I tried putting her in the sink facing the mirror, but that did not always work to get her teeth brushed little alone flossing. When I went to the pediatric dentist she had such a easy time brushing and flossing her teeth, I was amazed. She gave me a great tip on how to brush her teeth and we haven't had a problem for a long time now.

She told me to place two chairs together. DH sits in one with DD in his lap facing him. I sit in the other and then DD leans back to put her head in my lap. I then brush and floss her teeth. The dentist said she would probably throw a fit for the first couple of times, but then quit and sure enough she did. She no longer fights it and now reminds us if we forget to brush and floss. I am still amazed at how this works and not the other methods, but I think DD loves all the attention.

JKB1986 · September 2011

We started really getting serious about brushing at about 15 months. He won't let us use toothpaste so we just dry brush but he's gotten so much better. We bought him a musical toothbrush and at first just let him play with it and slowly just started putting it in his mouth for as long as he would let us. Now after his baths he cries for it and is really good with letting me brush them for him. He still has his days where he just doesn't want to let me and then I wrap the towel over his arms for the 30 seconds it takes me to brush them so he can't keep knocking it away. Don't worry, it'll get better, just give it time.

marleyc · September 2011

Are the spin brushes safe for kids under 2? I almost bought DD one because she also hates having her teeth brushed, but they all say they are not for kids under 3. I'm just worried she'll chip a tooth or something.

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