During the summer we can be a little lax on taking care of ourselves. We don’t always eat the best or get enough rest. Now that it’s back to school time it’s important to keep our smiles healthy. I know I’m lucky, but my kids have always LOVED going to the dentist and brushing their teeth. I like to think that I help in this by helping to keep their teeth as clean as possible. Now that we are back in school, we want to have nice looking smiles and healthy gums!
Did you know that tooth decay is the number one chronic childhood illness in America? Nationwide, kids miss more than 150 million school hours to poor dental health. I had no idea! There are some easy things you can do as parents to stop this and get a healthy mouth!
*Make it Habit: Just like story time or washing hands, you have to make teeth brushing a habit. I have found it’s best when I have both my kids do it together. My oldest has learned now but she also is setting a good example for my youngest. By doing this together every night and morning, we are creating a good habit!
*Make it Fun: I let my kids help out by picking out fun items in the dental area of the store. They love new toothbrushes and toothpaste. By making it more fun, they want to do it more.
*Talk about Healthy Teeth: Throughout the day talk about how eating fruits and veggies are good for our teeth. Drinking water and milk are better choices over sodas and juices. Over time kids will start to learn this and remember to make better choices.
*Be a Good Role Model: Do your kids follow you everywhere like mine do? Well then go brush your teeth and floss! Show them good dental hygiene. Take them to your dentist. Showing them all this will lead them to be good at doing this as an adult too. Right before school we all went to the dentist for our cleanings.
[bctt tweet=”Fight this chronic childhood illness and get kids to brush and have fun! #back2smiles ” username=”dailymomtivity”]
Want to learn more? Join us for #Back2Smiles Twitter Party on Thursday, August 25th from 12-1pm central time. Together we can help fight this and make sure every child has a healthy, bright smile!
*This post was sponsored by Jefferson Dental. They sent me a kid’s dental package to help promote #Back2Smiles.
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