Halloween is becoming more and more popular and my boys are at the age where they love trick or treating and lo9ve eating all the sweets and tweets they get.
However, there is a negative side to all these sugary foods and drinks that they get and it is important for me to help them keep decay at bay.
Bupa are also aware of this and a recent survey by them revealed that nearly half of mums (46%) are worried that their child might be addicted to sugar.
This research also found that 50% of mums have used the story of the Tooth Fairy to encourage their kids to brush their teeth. Of these, nearly half of mums tell kids the Tooth Fairy won’t accept rotten teeth to encourage them to clean their teeth, and 35% say the Tooth Fairy will know when you’ve eaten too many sweets.
So with this in mind they have produced a fab video that you can personalise for your child from The Tooth Fairy. You can see Mini’s here.
My number one tip for cleaning kids teeth
I also have Bupa’s top five tips for keeping your child’s teeth healthy, but I wanted to share with you my top tip and that is regularly using disclosing tablets. We use them once a week on a Sunday . These are small purple tablets that we chew and they dye the plaque on our teeth a purple colour for new plaque and red for old plaque.
We all do this and then see who can get their teeth clean of the colour the fastest!
Bupa’s top five tips on how to keep your child’s teeth healthy
from Bupa’s Clinical Director of Dentistry, Dr Steve Preddy
- Make the two minutes of teeth brushing fun; use a timer or find a fun song for your child to brush along to
- Be aware of the effects of your child’s diet on their dental health, regular consumption of sugary foods and drinks can lead to tooth decay
- Keep sugary treats to mealtimes, the less your child has sugary foods and drinks throughout the day the better
- Always read the nutritional labels on food to be aware of sugar content. This will help you find hidden sugars in healthy or unexpected foods
- Take regular trips to the dentist and try and to make your child feel at ease so this isn’t a negative experience
To find out more about Bupa’s Tooth Fairy campaign and create a personalised video for your child visit toothfairy.bupa.co.uk
Now that sounds like a brilliant idea, I will have to get my daughters some of those tablets so they can see for themselves where they are brushing properly!
I have to be honest and say that those statistics surprise me. We did find that our biggest problem was the orange juice the boys had every breakfast – it turns out it was killing their teeth!
Syd is at that age where teeth cleaning is a battle sometimes – he wants to do it himself, but frankly that doesnt mean clean teeth (he is just 3 and tends to miss big chunks of mouth!) so I insist that I get to clean them once a day too, just to make sure!
Great tips on keeping your kids teeth clean
My kids are starting to doubt that there is a tooth fairy now. It’ll be a sad day when they totally stop believing.
We’ve used the tablets before and I think they’re excellent 🙂
We always use disclosing tablets. I remember my friends laughing at me for using them as a child but my teeth are very healthy and I hope my children’s follow the same suit.
great tips – we use those tablets too
Great post – really helpful info and so important. With the massive rise in children snacking plus the fad for dried fruit kids’ teeth have never been so at risk!
It does worry me how much sugar my kids get though, their teeth is a real worry. Great post
My mother was a dental nurse and we used disclosing tablets and an unwavering dental hygiene routine to look after our teeth – well worth it if you consider the cost of dental work these days…
This sounds like an ace idea and great for kids to get them brushing.
I use a timer and my children have a ‘toothbrush challenge’ every night (who can keep brushing until the timer runs out). Works a treat.