18-Month Old and Teeth Cleaning-not Working!

Hello. I am having the same issue with my son so any feedback you get can you please pass it along to me.

thank you,
J.

I had the same problem. I took myu daughter to the store and let her pick out a motorized toothbrush. This way she could do a better job by herself and she was a lot more willing to let me help her.

Hi L.,
I am a mom of three and have been a pediatric dental hygienist for a very long time. The dental assistant responded correctly. Just do it. You would never let your child go days, weeks, months, or even years without taking a bath or washing their hair just because they didn't like it, right? You give them a bath because they NEED it not WANT it. Same idea with your teeth. As soon as you have teeth you can get cavities.

The four pediatric dentists that I work with take approximately 15-20 kids, a month, under age 5, to the hospital to be put under general anesthesia (by an anesthesiologist) to have their teeth fixed. All because of too much decay to fix in the office or they are too young to do it safely in the office. To avoid that possibility, here are a few suggestions:

1) Take your child to a pediatric dentist in your area. Most general dentists start seeing kids around age 3-5. (Sometimes that can be too late) A pediatric dentist usually starts to see patients around age 1. (Mainly for education on proper home care, bottle/sippie cup habits, and helping you curb any high risk behaviors.....the longer they go, the harder the habit is to break....for parents and child!) If you see a general dentist and they have work to be done or are uncooperative the dentist will refer you to a pediatric dentist anyway. Also, if your child has any oral trauma they would already be a patient of record and you would already know who you needed to call....that is not the time you want to try to find the pediatric dentist for your family!

2)Realize that you are not going to be able to rationalize with a 17 month old.....probably about anything! When they are old enough, give them a choice of brushing their teeth the hard way or the easy way....not if they want to brush or not. You may have some nights of brushing the easy way and some the hard way, but the children do figure out that is easier to just get it done. You shouldn't struggle with the hard way for long.

3) Let the child brush her teeth by herself in the morning and also before bed. Let her use a tiny smear of toothpaste. When she is done brushing at night, put some water on her toothbrush and get in there and finish up. Night time is the most important brushing of the day. A lot of damage can be done to their teeth while they are sleeping.

4) Sit on the floor with your legs crossed. Have her lay down in front of you and put her head into your lap. What that does is allows her to be wiggly and you still have control over her head and she will naturally open her mouth nice and big for you. If they are combative, and you have someone their with you try and use the knee to knee approach....both adults sit in a chair facing each other with knees touching. Place the child on one adults lap facing that person. (tummy to tummy with the child) Wrap the childs legs around your waist and lay her back into the other persons lap. (this allows you to stop their kicking safely). Next, have the person with the childs head in their lap brush. The adult with the child on their lap can also hold the childs hands so they are not grabbing the toothbrush and injuring themselves. It is quick and efficient.

5)We recommend milk and juice only with meals and only water between meals. ALL milks and juices break down to sugars. After age one, only water in the night. Koolaid, soda (even diet), gatorade once or twice a week for a special treat....they are loaded with sugars. It is not how much they are drinking but how often they are drinking it. Also fruit snacks, fruit roll ups and raisins can do a lot of damage to teeth if they are not brushed off.

As a mom, I know it breaks your heart to think that you may be traumatizing your child or making them cry. Just remember that you are helping them not hurting them. If you get stressed about brushing them with a fight remember that it is easier to hold them down to brush them than to hold them down to fix them. Besides, you can see so much better when they are screaming! It goes that much faster.....

A few of the responses I read were just plain wrong and should be addressed:

-You could never brush off their enamel.

-Don't give the child a fluoride tablet unless you have no fluoride in your water and are prescribed them. If they have city water they are getting enough fluoride. If they are over-fluoridated they could get a tummy ache and/or that could cause discoloration of their permanent teeth....by the time their perm. teeth come in it is too late, the damage is done.

-It is NOT all genetics! It is mainly home care and food/drink issues. Heredity is your tendency but not your destiny!

-Brushing won't traumatize your children. If you are stressed/anxious when you brush for them or when you take them to their dentist appointment the kids can sense that....and it makes things harder and more stressful. Dentistry for kids is a lot different now than when we were kids. Stay calm and let the ped. dentist and staff do what they do best.....I promise in the long run you will be happy you did.

These suggestions are assuming that your child is not a special needs child......I hope this information helps. There is what you are supposed to do and then there is what you can do. Just do what you can. Let me know if you have any questions, I would be happy to help!

I wouldnt make a big deal of brushing her teeth just yet, you can turn her off from it entirely if you force her too. What I do is brush my teeth at the same time, and I tell my kids to try this. I open my mouth wide and brush in the back and then I shut my teeth and brush the fronts. I sit on the toilet or the step stool so my kids can see clearer what I am doing. I praise and compliment whatever they do and then I say things like, this is fun, can I try on you? It generally works and sometimes they want to try on me too. (I hold their elbows so they dont shove it down my throat!!) Good Luck!

We started our daughter younger on this topic, but the whole "Germs" talk will help her understand the concept of bugs, etc. Then, you can
relate it to the bugs and germs in your mouth and brushing makes those bugs go away.

So, my daughter and I (sometimes still even now at almost 5) look for buggies in her mouth. Sometimes, they build buildings to add to their city. Cavities are the homes the buggies build and the only way to get rid of those are by going to a dentist. But, they will build banks, grocery stores, swimming pools, etc...whatever you can think of...even my daughters favorite store...Target stores. Make up things they build and name them after places that you attend, like YMCA's, etc. We brush away all the buildings and bugs and spit out the bugs and the buildings. Sometimes, we even see the buggies building homes and we have to stop them from building it before it becomes a permenent home...a Cavity.

Bad breath is the bug poop (plaque)...stinky bug poop...so, after we're done...I smell her mouth and no more bug poopies in her mouth and it smells fresh and yummy. The hugs HATE the smell of toothpaste and the bubbles from the toothpaste. They even play on our tongues. The bugs can be hard to catch...some are slow, some are fast...and some jump from the top teeth to the bottom and back and forth and those are hard to catch, but we chase them around until finally...we catch them with our toothbrush and rince them off. (We call the jumpy ones Junmpers,...but make up names for the types of bugs) Have fun with the game and show excitement. Even have her brush your teeth and pretend to look for buggies...it makes for a fun game. :)

Good luck, I hope this works out as well for you as it has for us. :)

Hi L.,

Try to find a book or a video about brushing your teeth and see if that helps. I know she is a little young, but sometimes outside suggestions help more than Mom or Dad's insistance.

Good Luck!

C.

Hi L.,
I've struggled with this myself with my two girls (ages 2 and 3 1/2).

I always let them do their own "brushing" first, then say "Let mommy help" and I do it. Some things that have sort of worked are: having them say "Aaaaaahhhhh" while I brush, telling them I have to look for animals in their mouth, or telling them I need to see if there is any chicken, or meatloaf, or corn, or whatever we had for supper on their teeth. Lately two things have been somewhat successful - if I brush my teeth at the same time they do, they seem to get a better idea of what good brushing is - also, they like to try to spit like I do (even though they are still using the training toothpaste with no fluoride) and I've also made up a song we sing (or I sing while I brush their teeth). It goes: "Brush, brush, brush your teeth, make them shiney white, so they won't go away, we'll have them all our life."

Good luck and let us know what works for you!
J.

If my kids give me a hard time about helping them brush, I talk about all of the "animals" that I see in their mouth. The itty bitty pink polka dotted elephant, the blue striped tiger, the big purple fuzzy gorilla, etc. You get the point. It works very well with my kids (ages 2 &4)because they are so interested in what you are making up that they forget that their teeth are being brushed! Good luck.

We had the same issue at around the same age. We tried to make it a game..."we have to get all the sugar bugs...Oh I see one open quick before he hides" We also reward her for letting us brush her teeth with letting her brush AFTER mommy or daddy. It was a fight for a while, but then it came around! Just a couple thoughts. We also use Spiffies toothwipes. They are to be used after brushing to help protect teeth from decay. I have only been able to find them at CVS.com not in the store. (I really haven't tried hard to find them in a store). We actually cut the wipes into 2-3 wipes since they are pretty large. My daughter is now almost 3 and she wipes her own teeth with them once a day. www.spiffies.com is the website for them. GOOD LUCK!

huh. my son is also in the phase. hes 19 months, and has been doing this for about 2 months. he wants to do it HIMSELF, LOL..
so basically, we have been just letting him do it. he only has the front 4 top and 4 bottom and one molar, so im not really concerned because he doesnt have many teeth to begin with. however, i certainly wish he would brush longer.

the only thing i am concerned about is if i try to do it "by force" he will resent it and stop doing it altogether. so im just letting him do it. i dont think that it will hurt him much, as long as your giving plenty of water to drink (to rinse the mouth) and not many really sticky foods... there shouldnt really be an issue... i would hope.

you can find a dentist who works with children that young. i am really excited to hear the other suggestions... as i could use the help too! LOL

What worked for our daughter was/is for me to start by brushing her teeth first. She now knows this routine. Once I have brushed all of her teeth and tongue, she knows it is her turn to go at it! At this point, she mostly does what other people have said: she sucks on the toothpaste and mostly rolls the brish around in her mouth, occasionally brushing the front teeth. At this point though, because I already brushed her teeth, I am fine with how she brushes. It is a learned skill through time. I know she will eventually get it.

I have been a dental assistant for 22 years. Just do it.
Have the child lay with their head in your lap and brush for them. If they cry, that's ok, they'll be open wide and you can see better. sing songs, do whatever works. It's VERY important to brush for them. Kids just dont have the dexterity to do a good job on their own.

You'll have to be equally vigilent in making sure they're brushing properly...but try a battery operated toothbrush, or one that twinkles for a minute to let the children know how long to brush. The novelty of these might encourage them to take the time to focus on each tooth. Make up a game or story and as you're telling it, polish each tooth as part of the story.

My dentist suggested having my spouse help hold the kids while brushing them. This was fun. NOT! So I resorted to videos, using dolls, etc.

Books and videos are very effective. I resorted to You Tube with my oldest and found professionally done videos for kids on oral health. There are alot of clever pediatric dentists out there who've made some pretty entertaining videos for their clients!

I also looked up the old Crest "Cavity Creeps vs. the Crest Team" commercials from the late 70's and 80's (I'm aging myself here!) and my oldest just loved them! Thosse cavity creeps kinda freaked him out. He asks if I see them, and let's me wipe em out without any fuss now. The youngest is getting much better, seeing the oldest one let me follow up after he brushes.

For those who don't remember the commercials, the Crest Team is a group of dental health concious Super Hero Kids who save "Toothopolis" from the evil Cavity Creeps. They have this giant Ray Gun (a giant tube of Crest) space fighters, and even tanks (all giant tubes of Crest) which spout waves of Crest on the Cavity creeps (these really gross, muscle bound creatures that look sort of like the Thing) as they chip away at the city gates of "Toothopolis" which happen to look like teeth.

my son goes to a ped. dentist and they told me that even if you let your child brush their teeth with jsut water it's enough to get some of the ick off the kids teeth. or maybe try changing the tooth paste the children use? my son only likes the crest for kids!!!

My 18-month-old is incredibly strong and fast and HATES having his teeth brushed by anyone but himself. EW just have to hold him down and get it done. It's a frustrating 2 minutes, but his teeth get clean. And sometimes it's easier to get those back ones when they scream. =)

L.; what you are doing is fine, in most cases when you brush their teeth, too much is done, and it can wear off the enamel on their teeth, having her do what she does is perfectly fine, as she gets older, she will do more, your example is best, teach her to swish her mouth with water will be what is best for her, if you are worried, they are finding out too, most kids who have cavities, have inherited most of that condition from their parents, so no amount of brushing will change the genetic structure of their gettting cavities, be happy she is doing what she can for her age, kids do more on following your example than your words, you are doing a great job by having her do what she can in imitation of you, sounds like you are on your way to being a great mommy, keep up the good work, D. s

My daughter went through a phase that she didn't want me to brush her teeth either!
I would let her "brush" while I was doing mine. I would then pick a food she had eaten that night and would ask to see if she got it all. I would pretend that there was still some on her teeth and with her still holding the brush would guide her toward it...all the while I'm actually brushing her teeth.
After our first trip to the dentist she got a timer and her own bag of brushing goodies...toothbrush, flosser, floss, etc. She "brushes" until the timer is done and then we look for any left over food. It also helps that I tell her the dentist doesn't want to see icky teeth, he wants to see pretty teeth!

Hi L.,
Try brushing her teeth first and then let her do it. Also when we first started brushing our daughter's teeth I did hers and she did mine, or a favorite doll or animal... We also use a product, recommended by our ped. dentist, called Spiffies. They are baby tooth wipes that come in different flavors and contain Xylitol (like some gum), available at Whole Foods. (I use them too sometimes)

Good Luck,
Megan

That was a really, really tough age for brushing teeth in this household as well. I had to seek advice. We found that nothing worked for longer than a couple weeks but if we just kept changing the approach and getting creative we made it through that phase. We never forced the issue because with our son that just makes him dig in his heels (or in this case grit his teeth) more.

Play dentist...have her lay in your lap while you sit on the floor with legs stretched out. She lays with her head by your stomach, looking up at you. Then you tell her the dentist needs to look inside and clean her teeth.

Get different totthbrushes and play games associated with them. With his Pooh toothbrush, the story was that Pooh was looking for honey and our DS mouth was a honeybee nest up in the honey tree. Or with the Dora toothbrush, Dora was going on an adventure and wanted to go explore in his mouth (cave). The race car toothbrush needed him to open wide so it could race around the track. You get the idea. He also loved the idea that monsters were in his mouth and we needed to brush them away or they would eat his teeth (though I wouldn't use this if your kid freaks over monsters).

Good luck and hang in there.

I've been dealing w/the same problem w/my 21mo old son. Over the last month he has become much more willing, though. I try to brush his teeth at the same time everyday so that he knows it's coming. For example I always brush them after breakfast while he's still in his highchair. My oldest son always loved having them brushed while he was in the tub. With some kids it'll work for you to do it first and then tell them to try and finish up and get the stuff you missed. :)

At this age, I just think you have to do the best that you can! Good luck!

Don't worry. I let my kids do it themselves from the get go and gave up trying to help them as they were just as stubborn. They have never had cavities. Let her have her independence, I say. You can also buy chewable fouride supplements for her to chew on to help protect from cavities.

I had the same problem with my son. And it went in phases of good weeks and bad weeks. But his teeth got brushed twice a day regardless of how much he screamed - I just told him this is something we have to do and sometimes we have to do things we don't like. Then I tolerated the screaming.

Some things that helped are making funny faces and noises like AHHH! and OHHH! at him and then having him try to make them back at me. This gets his mouth wide open and I can brush and he's somewhat distracted.

GOOD LUCK!

I struggled with that with our daughter (who is now 5 1/2) because at that point she would fight me and say "I do all by self". I actually took her in for a visit to the dentist when she was 2 or 2 1/2. They gave us a tour of the office and the equipment. Then the dentist did a lap to lap exam (your daughter sits facing you on your lap and lays down with her head in the dentists lap). It helped when the dentist told her that it was really important that she have Mommy check her mouth for any "sugar bugs" she missed. She really listened to that because she didn't want to have any bugs in her mouth eating her teeth!! :)
With our son (now 12), I taught him to count to 10 before he moved to another area. I would show him where to brush by "brushing" my teeth with my finger and counting along with him. I tried to keep the order the same so it became a habit. (i.e. - top left, bottom left, inside top left, inside bottom right, top right, bottom right, etc...) He began doing it on his own after awhile. I hope that helps!

My son hated brushing his teeth until we started brushing our teeth at the same time (he always wants to do what mommy and daddy do). I sit so that he can see what I am doind with the toothbrush inside my mouth (either directly in front of him or we both stand in front of a mirror).

This way, he tries to mimmick what I am doing (which is much more effective than when I was trying to hold him down and brush his teeth myself!).

I actually was just at my dentist and had asked him that question. We have a two year old who tries to brush but it is more just moving the brush around and chewing on it. My dentist said that is just fine. He said at this point it is more just teaching them the habit of brushing rather than how well they do it. He said they still are very oral and their mouths stay relatively clean. He said not to worry until they are 3-4 years old. So I wouldn't worry. You doing everything right by teaching her the habit of brushing. And if you have more questions I would just ask your dentist. They would know best.

we started getting "sugar bugs"..i'd say "mommmy sees a sugar bug! i'd better get it!" it's worked for well over a year... i have friends who now use that method with success. we make it a funny game! one aquaintance had been struggling, used the sugar bug game and told me that it totally scared her son at first, but within a few days worked perfectly, so i guess try not to make the bugs scary!
good luck!