Western Dental Advises Parents: How to Get Children to Regularly Brush Their Teeth

Western Dental & Orthodontics, one of the nation’s leaders in accessible, affordable oral healthcare and the leading orthodontics provider in the country, understands the problems associated with kids and brushing their teeth.

Let’s face facts: Kids hate to brush their teeth. And parents grow extremely weary of the daily battle to get them to do it.

Brushing your teeth is crucial for everyone, especially kids who want to avoid bad habits at a young age that can lead to poor dental hygiene for the rest of their life.

Battling with a child who won’t regularly brush their teeth can become an unwanted bedtime nightmare.

Dr. John Luther, Chief Dental Officer for Western Dental, provides 5 tips for getting kids to brush regularly:

• Pick a fun toothbrush, toothpaste: Buy a cool new toothbrush – dinosaurs, race cars, Disney characters, Barbie – that your child is excited to use and do the same with a child’s toothpaste. Make a fun time of taking your kid to the store to pick out a toothbrush and toothpaste.
• Play their favorite song: Brush DJ – an award-winning free app – plays two-minute songs. Kids can pick the songs. The app also sets reminders to brush twice a day, floss, use a mouthwash, and visit the dentist.
• Reward good brushing behavior: Suggestions include an extra half hour of TV; 30 straight days leads to a gift of their choice; award stickers each time they brush, and provide a reward (new toy, trip to the zoo) when the child reaches a certain number of stickers.
• Brush with your kids: Many young kids enjoy emulating their parents.Set aside a time each evening where you can brush your teeth together. Make it fun – perhaps create a dance while brushing. But also make it informative. Show them the proper technique for brushing.
• Story time: Create a story, like “sugar bugs” are attacking your child’s mouth. The only way to defeat the sugar bugs is to defend your mouth with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Your child becomes a superhero, fighting the evil sugar bugs. Or maybe it’s monsters invading Smile Kingdom. The idea is to make brushing FUN!

ABOUT WESTERN DENTAL

Western Dental (with its affiliates, including Brident Dental & Orthodontics) is one of the nation’s largest dental providers and is the leader in accessible, affordable oral healthcare, serving approximately 2.4 million patient visits annually in 249 affiliated offices throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. In addition to general dentistry, it offers orthodontics, oral surgery, pediatric dentistry, periodontics and endodontics in its offices, creating a convenient full service “Dental Home.”

In California, Western Dental is the leading provider of services to both adults and children in the Medi-Cal Dental program – part of the public insurance program that provides health care benefits for more than 13 million low-income individuals and families. Western Dental dentists provided care to more than a half-million Denti-Cal beneficiaries in 2017 and is committed to continuing to partner with the State to help improve the program.

All of Western Dental’s services are backed by a unique quality assurance system that monitors patient visits, treatments, dental staff and clinical performance to enable high-quality care. To learn more about Western Dental or inquire about an office in your community, visit www.westerndental.com or call 1-800-6-DENTAL.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181009006036/en/

Western Dental
Jeffrey Weidel
Office: 916-781-0616
Cell: 916-402-7132
jeff@halldinpr.com

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