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Austin Babies
JayandJack
member
How do you get them to brush their teeth?
JayandJack
member
When Jack only had a few teeth it wasn't that big of a deal and we'd just let him play with the toothbrush and kinda scrub them when we could. Now he's got almost a full set of teeth and he hates the toothbrush. He won't even play with it and put it in his mouth.
Also when do you start taking them to the dentist? I know the first couple of times is just for routine but all his teeth popped in at virtually the same time and it might be time to go 
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Re: How do you get them to brush their teeth?
We brush DD's teeth for her. She likes to hold the toothpaste tube while we brush, so we let her. And sometimes she holds a bath toy, too. Whatever works! We also switched to Tom's strawberry kiddo toothpaste because 1) I didn't like the artificial sweetener in Crest and 2) she likes the flavor better than Crest.
I think their first checkup should be around 18 months.
1. Between 1-2, tooth brushing was an ever-evolving struggle. We'd sing tooth brushing songs, we'd work on counting, I'd tell her I saw something in her mouth, etc. But we were always the one doing the brushing. And sometimes that meant holding her down, screaming, while we brushed as quickly as we could. Now she does it on her own, and then we "check" (we go back over it all again, telling her what a good job she did).
2. We haven't taken her yet. Our pedi said it's not critical before 2. We'll take her sometime this spring.
I took H when he was 3, but we were in the midst of moving when I wanted to take him :
If any of the back teeth are touching, I'd take LO in sooner rather than later as you'll need to start flossing those teeth and the dentist can help you with that.
H has never been a problem brusher, but i second that he loves the spin brush even more than the regular one
I'll have to try the spin brush. I've never thought of that.
Right now we don't use toothpaste and maybe we should be. DH bought some toddler toothpaste but it tastes horrible and I can't imagine using it on him.
Flossing scares the snikies out of me since Jack isn't a fan of us being in his mouth as it is. Ugh...I'm going to get bit a lot, I can just tell.
We had a LOT of struggles with brushing. She likes to do it on her own, but doesn't really do much. I now let her "brush" herself for a bit then it's my turn. We pretend there are animals in her mouth. She makes an animal noise (or I do) and I say "Oh no! There's a lion in there! Better get it out!" and we laugh as I get it out and then on to the next one. I learned this off TB and I'm so glad someone told me to try it. We also use a spin brush with Dora and Diego on it.
As for the dentist, we haven't gone yet. Our pedi said between 2 & 3 and so we didn't put her on the insurance 2011, but she is on it this year so we'll be going. I'm dreading it.
We actually just got her a spinning brush for Christmas and she loves it! She brushes more than we could ever get her to with a regular brush.
Our pedi says she doesn't need to go to the dentist until 3.
The Blog
Two words: Electric toothbrush. She always fought us when we used a regular toothbrush.
We also stopped using toddler toothpaste and just use water (I read that tip in Toddler 411). She is more willing to open her mouth now - before she would try to suck all of the toothpaste off the brush. And we do it in front of the TV. Oh, and sometimes I have to hold down her hands and keep trying until she gets so mad she opens up her mouth to cry.