Flossing

You have the answer already: Let him have a go at it then supervise his A.M. flossing and floss his teeth at night. Sounds good!

My daughter has been flossing on her own for a while now, and I think she's doing just fine. My opinion? Doing it herself is better than not doing it at all. She uses this

http://www.dentist.net/reach-access-daily-flosser.asp

It's the Reach flosser. It makes it easy for her to get between her teeth, I always supervise her doing it, and we follow up with the blue plaque detection rinse to see what she misses.

In an ideal world is it better DENTALLY for you to floss him? Yes. But Holistically? Perhaps it is better to let him use his innate independence to do something positive instead of squelching it. Know what I mean? After all, you're teaching overall good dental hygiene, right?

xtina

Your dentist should have been excited that your son wanted to floss by himself. Some kids won't floss at all. I would look for a more child friendly dentist and by all means let your son floss himself and if need be then help him after he is satified with the flossing he has done himself.

I think your dentist needs a smack upside the head.

I also think you need a NEW dentist. One that doesn't discourage your son from taking care of himself. A previous poster had it right on. If a five year old can play a musical piece that a 29 year old with years of experience can't then why can't a five year old floss his own teeth?

Absolutely let him do it. He needs to know that even though his dentist is an idiot, you know that he can do it.

i have a 5 year old and a 9 year old and they both floss sveyday on their own target, walmart, cub, walgreens etc.. all sell these individual flossers they are plastic and have floss thru them they are single use but we use them twice then throw them away. they come in all shapes dinosaurs, disney princesses, glow in the dark, etc.. my kids love them they even have plain white ones thet my 9 year old uses because she thinks she is too old for the others they are in the toothbrush aisles. Our dentist introduced them to us he gave us free samples and showed the kids how to use them and regular floss so now they do both.

P.,

Let him floss his own teeth and use the kiddie flossers. The first time I took my kids to the dentist here in MN, she said "Oh, I see you do a great job brushing your kids teeth." I replied, "I haven't brushed their teeth in years. That's their job." She looked shocked and told me to start brushing their teeth so they don't get cavities. They just say that because that is what they were trained in college to say to their patients.

Good luck,
S.

Pam,
let him do his own teeth a few times a week. I am no dentist, and I don't floss every day and I still have my own teeth that are perfectly healthy. I think if you make a deal with your son and let him floss on his own 1/2 the time then you can do it the other half and everything should be just fine.

I agree with the others! My son is four and flosses on his own. I think he is doing it well enough. I love that your son asked if he could floss on his own! How grown-up! We use the little animal flossers too. Just think of all the people who never think to floss their kids teeth and know that your son is miles ahead. By the way....good for you for being so diligent to floss your kids teeth daily!

Hi P.
I say let him do it first and then you do it again. or let him floss in the morning you floss at night. you would rather have half flossed teeth than no flossed teeth. Good Luck :)T.

my 5 year old daughter flosses her own teeth. Her dentist even gave her the hand held flossers to do it. I think your dentist my be stereotyping. Not all 5 year olds are the same. If you think your son is responsible enough to do it, let him try. You can watch to make sure he is flossing correctly. In my opinion a 5 year old is not a baby, he needs responsibility. good luck,
B.

I'd let him do it. At least he wants to and that is promoting good tooth care. The dentist should be more concerned about promoting long term tooth health care, than worrying too much about what he's missing when he does it himself. Ignore her comments and let him do it. Plus, these are his temporary teeth anyway, good ones to practice on. He's got to learn somehow. You could get him those little floss sticks instead of using his fingers to wrap the floss around, which don't do as good a job, but are alot easier if he doesn't have the dextarity. Let him do it and take what the dentist says with a grain of salt (and a margarita!) :)

I think tht you have hit on a good solution. Let you son floss on his own in the morning with your supervision and you do it at night until you are comfortable with how he does it.
I know that the dentist wants what is best for the patient, but you know your son the best.
Besides, they are only baby teeth and will be falling out in a year or so. How much damage can his "flossing wrong" do?
Be grateful that he wants to floss at all, and encourage him. Just because some five year olds may be too young, doesn't mean yours is too!
Happy flossing , and enjoy his smile!
Maureen

I think you are doing just fine. Keep supervising his efforts so he can learn to become thorough with the process. Flossing is needed only one time per day. Choose a time and make a game of it so you have fun together.

J.

I would let him do it by himself and just supervise to make sure he does it right. I'm one to follow what the doctors say most of the time, but I don't follow everything exactly. You know your child best and if you think he can do it, then let him. Pick your battles, but I'd say this is one to let go.

how about letting him start it and then you 'finish' it?....he'll get the chance to practice and then you can do it for real....he's at the age when he is feeling grown up and ready to do more stuff for himself and but not old enough to understand that he can't do everything....

I'd say let him!!!!!!!!My son has been brushing his own teeth since he turned 2 and has been flossing since he was 2 & 1/2.
With my son I will brush first then he gets to finish brushing, because I want him to know what good brushing feels like and then he gets to do it (and then I know that it's long enough because we both have brushed his teeth). And the floss I get the little animal ones too and I floss his teeth first then he gets to do it him self. and I do that so he knows how that will feel and his dentist is the one that told me to let him do it.

Good Luck!

Pam,

Let him do it himself and get a new dentist.

L. :)

Let him do it. It can't hurt. I've seen 5 year olds play all 3 movements of a Bach Violin Concerto.....somethings I'm STILL working on myself (at age 29 with 19 years of violin playing experience). So, if THEY can do THAT, I'm sure your son can learn to floss, especially with lots of practice and patience. :) Have fun!

I would let him do it on his own and just supervise. I recently took my 3 year old to the dentist and she said to floss his teeth a minimum of 1 time a week. My son also wants to do it on his own and I let him about 2 times a week and I do it once a week. Same goes with brushing. I let him brush his teeth first and then I just finish up.

I think you know your child better than the dentist. I'm sure your little boy wouldn't have any problem letting you supervise him. Once he is done, maybe you could say, now its time for mommy to check, and you could do a quick floss. Seeing as he has been letting you do the flossing for quite some time, its possible he knows the routine and would do a good job. Why not let him try as long as he lets you check at the end. He will be proud to let you see what a good job he did.
I think its great you are teaching your children to be independent.
Keep up the good work and listen to your inner voice!!

Hi Pam,

Just my opinion, but I would let him do it! Get him the same type of little flossers and let him go to town! Keep him interested! I have a 5yr old also, and he loves to do this on his own! He has one of the Reach flossers and loves it!

K.

I would let him at it. I've let my daughter manage her own brushing since she was 3-4 years old with me supervising of course. They have to learn sometime. I'm very very all for letting and giving kids a chance to be independant they need that in life. My daughter is very independant. The only thing I really have to for her is do her hair otherwise she takes care of her showering, brushing teeth, getting herself dressed.

We buy the fun flossers made for children. They are easy to use and my kids do really well with them. My kids have been using the fun flossers since they were 4. My kids floss first and then I go back for anything they may have missed. One great thing about letting them do it on their own is that they are getting in the habit of doing it and with practice they will get better at flossing and it will be a part of their daily routine!

Let him do it himself. But first you tell him that you need to do it then he can do it next. I had to do this with brushing my 5 year olds teeth.

Hi Pam! Why not start out by having your son do the flossing all by himself in the morning? (If his teeth were flossed before bed there shouldn't be much to floss or to miss in the morning.) Tell him you'll continue to do the evening flossing til he's had some practice and then he can do evenings with you supervising. You can point out to him that this will give him a faster route to independence than his sister has followed and won't it be fun to show the dentist how well he's doing. How important is it to floss baby teeth 2x a day anyway?

I say let your child floss with your supervision. Some adults just don't give kids enough credit for what they are really capable of. After all, isn't it our job as parents to teach our children to be independant? And it sounds like that is exactly what you have done with your children, don't let one outsiders point of view change your parenting style.