Not all children relish brushing their teeth, flossing, or rinsing with mouthwash. No matter how much you tell them that it’s something they need to do, some kids just don’t want to deal with these daily dental care responsibilities. If you’re at your wit’s end with an anti-teeth-brushing rebel, don’t despair. Follow these tips to help them change their minds.

Determine Why Your Kids Refuse to Brush

Sometimes children don’t want to brush their teeth for a legitimate reason. However, due to heightened emotions or perhaps even confusion about how to best express those reasons, some kids react with a temper tantrum instead of explaining why they don’t want to brush.

Before you lay down the law with teeth-brushing house rules, ask some open-ended questions to determine why your kids don’t want to brush their teeth. For example:

• What thoughts come up when you think about brushing your teeth?
• Why do you think parents want kids to brush their teeth?
• Can you describe how brushing your teeth makes you feel?
• What can I do to make this better for you?
• In what ways do you think brushing your teeth is helpful?
• How do you plan to keep your teeth healthy if you don’t take care of them?
• What would you tell a friend who wouldn’t brush their teeth?
• How do you think parents should react if their kids don’t brush?

As kids answer these open-ended questions, you can encourage them to share even more by really listening to what they have to say, acknowledging their legitimate fears and concerns, and validating their feelings. Then ask follow-up questions. For example, if they feel that brushing their teeth is painful, find out how it’s causing your child pain.

Once you find out the real reason, you can do something about it. For example, if your child simply has sensitive teeth and gums, you may discover that they were using a brush that didn’t have soft enough bristles, or they may need some other accommodation that you can discuss with your dentist.

Add Some Fun to the Tooth-Brushing Routine

If the underlying cause for your kids not brushing their teeth is personal preference, that’s not going to be easily solved. As their parent, it’s okay to require your kids to brush their teeth twice per day. You may opt to supervise and set time limits. However, it’s probably going to be a lot less painful for you and your children if you add some fun to the teeth-brushing regimen.

Set up a reward system and stick to it. If your child brushes their teeth twice each day, they can get a small reward or points toward a bigger reward. You may also set conditions on the reward, too. For example, you may require that your kids don’t complain about brushing their teeth and that they brush for no less than two minutes for each teeth-brushing session.

Don’t be afraid to get silly, too! You may tell your kids that brushing your teeth is likely painting in reverse. Tell them that they need to get all the icky paint away from the teeth so that they are bright white like a blank canvas. You can also sing silly songs to the tune of popular nursery rhymes about brushing teeth or maybe even play games such as I Spy with a dental care theme.

Praise Your Kids When They Brush Their Teeth

Positive reinforcement can work wonders. Every time you see your child doing something right for their teeth, tell them how delighted you are and throw a few compliments their way. You may praise them for being brave and smart for taking care of their teeth.

Finally, keep in mind that going to the dentist is a crucial part of overall oral health care for any child. Make an appointment with the caring dentists at Town Center Family Dental to set your kids on the right path to long-term dental health.