Brushing Teeth - Metairie,LA

Yes I do. I'd rather my son be less independent without cavities than vice-versa. Did the dentist notice something? If the dentist says that her teeth are not being brushed properly, then I'd believe it. And yes baby teeth with cavities do have to be filled or pulled.

My daughter is almost six and I still brush her teeth once a day myself. She gets free reign in the morning and I give her a good scrub at night and I floss her as well twice a week. She's five. She spills milk on the floor, can't make her bed very well and still leaves lights on all over the house even though I tell her EVERY DAMN DAY to turn off the light when she leaves a room. How can I trust her with cleaning her teeth properly?

So your daughter fights you. Fight back. This is a fight worth having. Oral health is no joke. My daughter started to put up a fuss so I compromised that she can start the brushing and then I would go over her work myself, to make sure, but in no way did I give into her five year old demands to do something she's not capable of.

I gave up the morning brushing to her and still continue to take care of her before bed. If your dentist tells you your five year old is not brushing properly, you need to take care of it. Some "baby" teeth will be with your child until she is thirteen years old. That's a long time to have a gross rotty tooth around. If the baby tooth needs to get pulled, it makes a mess of things when the permanent teeth have to come in. The little teeth will move around and shift, getting in the way of a new tooth which requires dental intervention.

Brush her teeth and tell her to put a cork in it.

My son is 4.5 and yes, I brush his teeth for him. I let him do it on his own first, then I get a turn and I brush them well. He is learning but nowhere near being able to do it on his own.
My 8 y/o has been brushing his own for a couple years now and there are still times where I will take over and give them a really good scrub!

My son is six and I still brush his teeth. He does it first, then I go over it. He gets the practice while I get to make sure it's done correctly. I don't let him floss, I have to do that. He has a tendency to accidentally cut his gums. I do it, but teeth brushing is a chore I loathe.

My BIL is a dentist. He says that this issue is that children under about the age of 8 don't have the dexterity to really get it right, even if it looks like they are hitting all the right spots - apparently there are a lot of fine motor skills involved. My BIL also mentioned that rigorous studies have been done on the subject and when left to their own devices, kids under 8, even with parents watching, only removed about 25 % of the plaque on their teeth.

So I hate it, but I do it. It was a little bit of a fight for a while, but my son soon learned that he was going to have to suffer through me brushing his teeth, even though he constantly argued "I can do it". Now he just asks me if I want to brush before or after he does it.

My daughter will be five in September. I let her brush in the morning and I brush and help her floss at night. She doesn't brush very well though.

Well if the dentist says she's not doing a good enough job then she's not! If you really don't want to brush her teeth for her you need to reteach her how. Tell her to think of her mouth in 4 sections. 2 tops sides (right and left) and 2 bottom sides. Tell her she needs to brush each side and all around those teeth. Help her a few times to make sure she getting all teeth and every surface of each tooth.
I was a dental assistant before becoming a stay at home Mom and I can tell you that it does matter if baby teeth get cavities. If baby teeth get cavities it can affect the adult teeth that are behind them under the gums. Her adult teeth are already in her mouth just up in her gums. So yes that bad bacteria can get to them. Then you would have to pay for fillings for baby teeth and them possibly fillings, root canals or an abscess tooth when the adult teeth come in. So even though you want her to be independent you need to still step in and make sure she is doing it right or pay later.
My daughter is 5. She brushes her own teeth in the morning. At night I let her brush but then I do a quick once over just to make sure we get a real good clean. I also have a motorized tooth brush for her. Those really help get the teeth very clean.

I never did at all. I could suggest that maybe you brush your teeth at the sink with your child when she does it, and have her mimick what you do, then you will know that she is doing a good job. A few times should do the trick.

No, I do not nor do I know anyone that does.

Evidently she needs to learn how to do a better job.

Take a box, bigger than a boot box, smaller than a TV box. Paint it skin color. Then draw a smiling mouth on it. Cut the mouth open with a box knife and make sure to put a tiny amount of space between each tooth so you can cut some yarn and let her "floss the teeth". This is from the Mailbox Pre-School February curriculum book. It was one of the things I did each February during our dental week in honor of February being dental month.

I floss the kids teeth but would not brush them. Flossing gets most of the crud out of the area then brushing should get the rest.

Perhaps getting her a good spinning toothbrush would help to get the buildup off the teeth too. Ours use those spin brushes and have good results with them.

Getting the cleaned twice a year is good too. The dentist could also do a bit to help by showing her how to brush her teeth or even having her do it in front of him so he can show her what she is missing. It may cost extra though so be sure and ask.

My son is 4 and he likes to do it himself, so I let him. When he's done I then go over his teeth again to be sure they're clean. We talk about the correct way to brush teeth, and he does a pretty good job but I still think it's important for me to help him. Oral health is very important, so at age 5 and 6, I'll probably still be helping him with it.

I did. Usually I would just go over what they had done at bedtime. We never had to fight about it, because that's just the way it was. I wouldn't do it if we were camping, or having a friend sleep over, or any other time they might be embarrassed by my help.

Yes, I do brush my 5 year olds teeth. I also help my 7 year old get what she missed after she brushes her teeth.

My son brushes his teeth on his own and then when he is done I do go back and make sure they are really clean. He's 6 now and I still do it. I make sure he knows that having a mouth is really important and that it's really important that his teeth are clean.