How Long Did You Brush Your Kid’s Teeth?

[slo]

i have no idea when I stopped brushing their teeth, but I definitely know I wasn’t brushing their teeth when they started kindergarten.

 

[GreatLakes]

Regularly either 3 or 4 but he is 7 now and occasionally we will still "help" if he is doing a rush job. He always had an electric brush made for kids on the recommendation of our dentist.

 

[CynBeth]

I don’t have kids so asked my co-worker who has 5 of them this question and she believes for the 3 oldest they started brushing on their own when they started first grade. She does still monitor them and if they missed a spot will have them do it again.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I know it was before kindergarten, but I also had to monitor them for a while. Both of them got braces early on in middle school, which meant more regular monitoring from a professional. The orthodontist and techs made it clear that they'd have contrasting brace marks on their teeth if they didn't take good care of them and they stained during the brace process. That really helped.

 

[goofyernmost]

I don't honestly know. I assume my wife might have, but I know I never did. My wife has passed so that information went with her. I will ask my kids but I'm sure they were young enough that they really wouldn't remember. I do remember neither of us caring a lot about their baby teeth because they were going to fall out anyway and doing it young, to me, would have only been to force a habit.

Oh, and to those that are about to say that they must have had tooth problems as adults, both my girls (ages 48 & 50) have never had a cavity or any dental work other than cleaning. (one did have orthodontist experiences though)

 

[NAB]

I feel that way about dentistry in general, if I’m being honest. Someone please explain to me why teeth need twice yearly professional attention but the entire rest of the body only needs to be checked by a doctor annually. It seems as though the consequences of something going wrong with one’s heart/kidneys/liver/take-your-pick would be much worse than the consequences of something going wrong with a tooth, so for the life of me I can’t figure out why teeth get twice the attention. I’m fully admitting to being a bit skeptical about the whole dental industry, so that’s why I’m trying to figure out if my thoughts on this latest recommendation are steeped in my own personal bias or if it really is as ridiculous as I think it sounds.

Well I understand that dentist can catch medical things too. Stuff in the back of your month you don’t see and your gums are connected to heart health.

My daughter gets plague on her bottom teeth to this day and goes every 9 months. She is 23 and uses an electric tooth brush. It’s just her destiny I guess. He also told her not to use whitening stuff because she was getting a receding gum line.

I’m pretty sure they we 3 or 4 when I stopped brushing the kids teeth. It was more me saying a million times did you brush your teeth before bed and before school.

 

[mjkacmom]

Before kindergarten, heck #4 and #5 were showering by themselves before 4. Now they are all in their 20’s I’m trying to convince them they need to floss daily (dentist always tells them the same). We all go every 6 months, hardly any cavities. We go to a family practice and my kids still love going, great staff. Plus the treasure box is back.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

My 7 year old recently started brushing his teeth alone and unsupervised, and it was a mistake. Discovered he was basically just putting the brush in his mouth and wiggling it around, so now I watch him. If I tried to brush my 12 year olds teeth she’d think I was nuts lol

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I'm no parenting expert or a dentist, for that matter, but I got DS a power toothbrush when he was about 5 and had sealants applied to his molars (both baby teeth and his permanent ones, when they came in). To date (he's 26 now) he's had two cavities in his life. Maybe think about trying one or both of those?

We do/have done both, although the post below has given me the idea to have him use mouthwash after brushing so I’ll probably add that and see how it goes.

Definitely not double digits. Probably 3? One child has had no cavities, one has had several.

The one who has had more, I encourage her to use a fluoride rinse to add some assistance. She hasn’t had cavities in a while, but I’m not sure if that’s from the fluoride rinse, from getting older and brushing better, or just the way things have gone.

She is 11 now and I’m trying to envision any of my her peers letting their parents brush their teeth….i can’t see it.

Get some of these... https://www.amazon.com/Red-Cote-Dis...aque+disclosing+tablets&qid=1705671513&sr=8-7

I remember having to use these at the dentist when I was a kid. After brushing, chew a tablet, swish around your mouth, rinse, spit, and presto! You get to see places they missed while brushing. Although, as a kid with poor brushing habits, I think I ended up swallowing or something so missed places weren't as noticeable.

Disclosure tabs. We have those. In fact, I had my three year old use one this morning after he brushed on his own, less than 48 hours after his dentist visit, and it showed he still had spots of old plaque. So, it appears the dentist isn’t getting their teeth perfectly clean, either.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I kinda thought this dentist’s standards for oral hygiene were a bit much — they once told me I should use a 2x2 gauze to rub along my 2 year old’s gum line after each brushing — so I wanted to get a sense of what lengths normal people went to in caring for their kid’s teeth. But since there aren’t any normal people on the DIS, I settled for you guys.

 

[sam_gordon]

Disclosure tabs. We have those. In fact, I had my three year old use one this morning after he brushed on his own, less than 48 hours after his dentist visit, and it showed he still had spots of old plaque. So, it appears the dentist isn’t getting their teeth perfectly clean, either.

How do you know it was "old plaque" vs spots missed in the previous 48 hours?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

For years our dentist had a big sign in his patient room that said, “Only floss the ones you want to keep”, so it’s been a running joke for us. But we are big flossers, so we can thank him for that.

When DD was little they said she was doing a good job in the front but not getting everything in the back. That’s why they recommended an electric toothbrush. This is true of adults, too, apparently.

And yes, plaque and other dental germs can definitely be related to heart health. If bacteria from the mouth gets in your bloodstream it can circulate, lodge in the heart valves and cluster there, causing ‘vegetation’ requiring long term antibiotics (often intravenous for six weeks or more) and sometimes open heart valve surgery.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/dental/art-20047475

https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/wp-...19-Infective-endocarditis-and-oral-health.pdf

Latest thoughts are that a really clean mouth can even help keep us healthy overall.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/dise... that infect the,attack and stroke may follow.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

How do you know it was "old plaque" vs spots missed in the previous 48 hours?

Old plaque turns blue and new plaque turns red, supposedly.

 

[sam_gordon]

Old plaque turns blue and new plaque turns red, supposedly.

huh. Never saw that.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

For years our dentist had a big sign in his patient room that said, “Only floss the ones you want to keep”, so it’s been a running joke for us. But we are big flossers, so we can thank him for that.

When DD was little they said she was doing a good job in the front but not getting everything in the back. That’s why they recommended an electric toothbrush. This is true of adults, too, apparently.

And yes, plaque and other dental germs can definitely be related to heart health. If bacteria from the mouth gets in your bloodstream it can circulate, lodge in the heart valves and cluster there, causing ‘vegetation’ requiring long term antibiotics (often intravenous for six weeks or more) and sometimes open heart valve surgery.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/dental/art-20047475

https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/wp-...19-Infective-endocarditis-and-oral-health.pdf

Latest thoughts are that a really clean mouth can even help keep us healthy overall.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/gum-disease-and-the-connection-to-heart-disease#:~:text=The bacteria that infect the,attack and stroke may follow.

I know there’s a connection between oral health and overall health, especially as it relates to the heart, it’s the fact that we’re recommended to have a doctor look at our teeth twice as often as they would for every other part of our body that gets me. Why is it adequate for a doctor to listen to my kid’s heart and lungs once a year (and do absolutely nothing to investigate his kidneys, pancreas, etc.) but his teeth need to be examined twice a year? It just seems like we’re either giving too much attention to teeth or not enough to everything else.

 

[sam_gordon]

I know there’s a connection between oral health and overall health, especially as it relates to the heart, it’s the fact that we’re recommended to have a doctor look at our teeth twice as often as they would for every other part of our body that gets me. Why is it adequate for a doctor to listen to my kid’s heart and lungs once a year (and do absolutely nothing to investigate his kidneys, pancreas, etc.) but his teeth need to be examined twice a year? It just seems like we’re either giving too much attention to teeth or not enough to everything else.

Just a guess... Maybe dental issues show up "quicker" than kidney, pancreas, etc? So even if there was a full physical exam every six months, it really wouldn't pick up much more than every year?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I know there’s a connection between oral health and overall health, especially as it relates to the heart, it’s the fact that we’re recommended to have a doctor look at our teeth twice as often as they would for every other part of our body that gets me. Why is it adequate for a doctor to listen to my kid’s heart and lungs once a year (and do absolutely nothing to investigate his kidneys, pancreas, etc.) but his teeth need to be examined twice a year? It just seems like we’re either giving too much attention to teeth or not enough to everything else.

I can see your point. I missed a cleaning when I was sick, and rescheduled, but they text me all the time trying to get me in there earlier. I guess that it’s because insurance pays for twice yearly cleanings, and they want to get those in as they’re a big money maker for them. There must be some evidence of benefit or insurance probably wouldn’t cover them, right?

 

[sam_gordon]

I can see your point. I missed a cleaning when I was sick, and rescheduled, but they text me all the time trying to get me in there earlier. I guess that it’s because insurance pays for twice yearly cleanings, and they want to get those in as they’re a big money maker for them. There must be some evidence of benefit or insurance probably wouldn’t cover them, right?

The bolded is what I was going to say. If insurance doesn't think it's worth it, they're not going to approve it. Since 2x year cleaning has been standard for I think all of the insurance policies I've had, I'm guessing there's something to it.

 

[Southernmiss]

One of our kids has a bicuspid aortic valve and for a while he had to have a preventative antibiotic before cleanings or dental visits.

But along the way, we were told new information came out and that the antibiotic was no longer necessary.

I really wonder if what was posted earlier is still valid or if medical professionals disagree.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

One of our kids has a bicuspid aortic valve and for a while he had to have a preventative antibiotic before cleanings or dental visits.

But along the way, we were told new information came out and that the antibiotic was no longer necessary.

I really wonder if what was posted earlier is still valid or if medical professionals disagree.

Recommendations have changed, and they don’t prescribe antibiotics before dental work as much anymore, except in certain medical circumstances. There probably is still some disagreement, too, and different practices among dental and medical professionals.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/some-heart-patients-need-antibiotics-before-dental-work

_____________

https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/endocarditis-prevention

How Have Endocarditis Prevention Guidelines Changed?

In 2007, the American Heart Association Endocarditis Committee -- together with other experts -- issued guidelines to help prevent endocarditis. These replaced guidelines issued in 1997. After reviewing published studies, the committee found that only a small number of cases of infective endocarditis might be prevented by antibiotics for dental procedures. In patients with heart conditions associated with the highest risk of serious complications from endocarditis, it says that antibiotic treatment before dental procedures involving manipulation of the gums seems reasonable.
________________

From the ADA:

https://www.ada.org/en/resources/re...ute/oral-health-topics/antibiotic-prophylaxis

• Compared with previous recommendations, there are currently relatively few patient subpopulations for whom antibiotic prophylaxis may be indicated prior to certain dental procedures.
• For infective endocarditis prophylaxis, American Heart Association guidelines (updated with a scientific statement;in 2021) support premedication for a relatively small subset of patients. This is based on a review of scientific evidence, which showed that the risk of adverse reactions to antibiotics generally outweigh the benefits of prophylaxis for many patients who would have been considered eligible for prophylaxis in previous versions of the guidelines. Concern about the development of drug-resistant bacteria also was a factor.
• Infective endocarditis prophylaxis for dental procedures should be recommended only for patients with underlying cardiac conditions associated with the highest risk of adverse outcome from infective endocarditis (see “Patient Selection,” in the main text). For patients with these underlying cardiac conditions, prophylaxis is recommended for all dental procedures that involve manipulation of gingival tissue or the periapical region of teeth or perforation of the oral mucosa.

(It doesn’t look like bicuspid aortic valve qualifies anymore, but I would speak to your doctor and dentist about it.)

 

[princesscinderella]

My husband is a dentist. We stopped brushing our kids teeth around 4, but they all had electric toothbrushes which does a lot of the work as long as they move it around their entire mouth. The ones that have a timer or song are great so they get 30 second in each quadrant of their mouth. Using flossers makes it easier for them to get between their too.

Ideally everyone should get a dental cleaning every three months as that is the time it takes for tartar build up on the teeth to harden into plaque, which leads to cavities and periodontitis. Dental insurance is only every 6 months because they don't want to pay for the ideal of every three months, they are all about the bare minimum so they can make money on premiums. They hope you don't go to the dentist and use your benefits. @Pea-n-Me is spot on with the articles she posted about a healthy mouth in an important part of a healthy heart and overall health. Oral health is also important during pregnancy.