Dental Wars

In honor of Dental Hygiene month, I thought I’d end February with another post about dental hygiene. Your pediatrician, your pediatric dentist and, of course, you all know dental hygiene is important. But your kid doesn’t feel the same way. If you’ve ever had to kneel on the bathroom floor wielding a toothbrush over your preschooler who has melted down over the prospect of brushing their teeth, this article is for you.

Maybe you’re a new parent and you’re not sure when to start an oral care routine or you’d like to understand more about why keeping baby teeth healthy is such a priority knowing they’re just going to fall out in a couple years. If you look at pediatric dentists websites in Portland, just about all of them have articles posted with by-age guidelines, strategies, and useful products that parents have reported success with. Here is one such article that I found to be the most comprehensive–discussing the developmental impacts of poor hygiene, a detailed breakdown of good brushing technique by age, and strategies to turn a meltdown into an opportunity to bond with your child twice a day.