By Victoria Rosenblum
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHvy0Oe8KG8[/youtube]
Parents know how hard it is to persuade children to brush their teeth. Now imagine having six kids. You might as well make it fun.
This is exactly what Amy and her husband Phil Maschue do to motivate their six kids to brush their teeth twice a day.
“I’m a speech-language pathologist who works primarily with kids with autism who typically don’t like anything in their mouths,” said Amy. “I found early on in my career that I could help families get compliance with tooth brushing and other speech therapy oral motor related tasks by making up songs that the children liked. It’s worked really well with my own kids, too.”
Amy and her kids would make the songs about the things that each child enjoys. Her oldest son liked trains, so they bought a train-themed toothbrush that said “cha cha.” This inspired the song she’d sing to him:
You brush your teeth. Cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha.
You brush your teeth. Cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha.
First you brush the top ones the top ones the top ones.
Then you brush the bottom ones the bottom ones the bottom ones.
You brush your teeth. Cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha.
Her oldest daughter liked stories rather than songs. They would use silly voices to give a mission to her toothbrush hero, arm it with toothpaste and narrate what was happening to the “Evil Plaque and Gingivitis” whose job it was to make holes in their teeth so the Tooth Fairy would leave only a lump of coal instead of $1.
Jillian, 5 and Maeve, 3 love The Little Mermaid. They made up a song and worked on following directions at the same time. Watch them in action here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHvy0Oe8KG8
Amy and Phil personalize each song or story so that the kids brush well and for the recommended two minutes two times a day.
“I think that’s a great idea!” said Dr. Lee Weinstein, a Scottsdale pediatric dentist who is the dental director of Arizona’s Medicaid program. “In my opinion, she has now motivated her kids and it works for her.“
When it comes to kids, brushing their teeth is not on the list of their top priorities. It can become a tedious chore, which makes them less inclined to care about their dental health.
“They will never understand the importance of brushing. Parents need to be parents and make sure their kids brush their teeth whether they like it or not,” said Dr. Weinstein. “You can try to make it fun. Try to instill good habits. Try to share the time with your kids.”
According to Dr. Weinstein, you should be taking your child to a pediatric dentist starting at age one.
“You take your child to a pediatric dentist because they are geared to come up with different ideas and different approaches to make dental hygiene fun.”
By getting into an office early on and teaching your kids how to care for their teeth, you will be able to prevent a large amount of decay, the possibility of putting them through extensive procedures, sedation and consequential costs.
“Good oral care is important for a nice smile but is also important for good general health,” said Amy. “I want to keep my kids healthy and teach them healthy habits.”
Whether it’s a song or story, help make brushing more fun whether you have just one little one or as many as six.
Dr. Lee Weinstein of Dental Associates For Kids Only in Scottsdale, Arizona is a public relations client.