{"id":195,"date":"2016-09-26T06:46:03","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T06:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/dps\/mangrovebaydental.com\/?p=195"},"modified":"2016-10-21T04:48:34","modified_gmt":"2016-10-21T04:48:34","slug":"nancy-odell-on-making-oral-hygiene-fun-for-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/2016\/09\/26\/nancy-odell-on-making-oral-hygiene-fun-for-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Nancy O’Dell on Making Oral Hygiene Fun for Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Entertainment Tonight<\/em> host Nancy O\u2019Dell set out to teach her young daughter Ashby how to brush her teeth, she knew the surest path to success would be to make it fun for the toddler.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing with kids is you have to make everything a game,\u201d Nancy recently said in an interview with Dear Doctor TV<\/em>. She bought Ashby a timer in the shape of a tooth that ticks for two minutes \u2014 the recommended amount of time that should be spent on brushing \u2014 and the little girl loved it. \u201cShe thought that was super fun, that she would turn the timer on and she would brush her teeth for that long,\u201d Nancy said.<\/p>\n

Ashby was also treated to a shopping trip for oral-hygiene supplies with Mom. \u201cShe got to go with me and choose the toothpaste that she wanted,\u201d Nancy recalled. \u201cThey had some SpongeBob toothpaste that she really liked, so we made it into a fun activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seems like this savvy mom is on to something! Just because good oral hygiene is a must for your child\u2019s health and dental development, that doesn\u2019t mean it has to feel like a chore. Equally important to making oral-hygiene instruction fun is that it start as early as possible. It\u2019s best to begin cleaning your child\u2019s teeth as soon as they start to appear in infancy. Use a small, soft-bristled, child-sized brush or a clean, damp washcloth and just a thin smear of fluoride toothpaste, about the size of a grain of rice.<\/p>\n

Once your child is old enough to hold the toothbrush and understand what the goal is, you can let him or her have a turn at brushing; but make sure you also take your turn, so that every tooth gets brushed \u2014 front, back and all chewing surfaces. After your child turns 3 and is capable of spitting out the toothpaste, you can increase the toothpaste amount to the size of a pea. Kids can usually take over the task of brushing by themselves around age 6, but may still need help with flossing.<\/p>\n

Another great way to teach your children the best oral-hygiene practices is to model them yourself. If you brush and floss every day, and have regular cleanings and exams at the dental office, your child will come to understand what a normal, healthy and important routine this is. Ashby will certainly get this message from her mom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very adamant about seeing the dentist regularly,\u201d Nancy O\u2019Dell said in her Dear Doctor<\/em> interview. \u201cI make sure that I go when I\u2019m supposed to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no wonder that Nancy has such a beautiful, healthy-looking smile. And from the looks of things, her daughter is on track to have one, too. We would like to see every child get off to an equally good start!<\/p>\n

If you have questions about your child\u2019s oral health, please contact us<\/a> or schedule an appointment<\/a> for a consultation. You can learn more by reading the Dear Doctor<\/em> magazine articles \u201cTaking the Stress Out of Dentistry for Kids<\/a>\u201d and \u201cTop 10 Oral Health Tips for Children<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Entertainment Tonight host Nancy O\u2019Dell set out to teach her young daughter Ashby how to brush her teeth, she knew the surest path to success would be to make it fun for the toddler. \u201cThe best thing with kids is you have to make everything a game,\u201d Nancy recently said in an interview with … Continue Reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[2,11,31],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":621,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195\/revisions\/621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}