Get your children on board with oral health care!

For children, the loss of their first tooth is huge news. It is a really big deal and the same goes for each tooth afterwards, until all the baby teeth are gone. For most children, it is exciting for two reasons.

One reason is the fact that it means you are 'growing up' and are a 'big boy or girl now'. The second reason though, is much more exciting, and that is the fact that a lost tooth means that the tooth fairy is going to be paying you a visit!

Every family has different traditions, but mostly the tooth fairy means a small amount of money, treats or another gift that the child has been asking for. They go to sleep with their tooth under the pillow in a special box or pouch and in the morning the tooth is gone and in its place is the gift from the tooth fairy in the morning. It is magical just like Christmas or Easter, and it is also an excellent way to promote tooth care to your children. Here are some tips on keeping your child engaged with oral health using the tooth fairy character to help!

Start Telling Them The Story When They Are Very Young

Before your child loses any teeth they should be excited about the tooth fairy. They should also know that the tooth fairy really cares about tooth health and if you don't look after your adult teeth underneath, or your baby teeth, the tooth fairy might not come. You can package this in a way that suggests that the baby teeth need to be clean, healthy and nice so the tooth fairy wants to leave something in exchange for them. In the same way kids need to be 'good' for Santa to come, they need to care for their teeth so that the tooth fairy comes to visit them!

Leave Special Tooth Fairy Gifts

As well as the treat or present, you could leave a special 'tooth fairy gift' like toothpaste or a character toothbrush sent from the tooth fairy to help your child care for their teeth. This will encourage them to care for their teeth with the special 'tools' the fairy sent.

Make Direct Contact From The Tooth Fairy

Just like receiving a call from Santa who's 'seen a naughty behaviour and wants it to improve' will have a big effect on a child who really wants to impress Santa, a letter from the tooth fairy will do the same. So when you leave the gift or treat in exchange for a tooth, leave a little note (preferably with tiny writing!) from the tooth fairy thanking the child for their tooth, and asking them to keep looking after their teeth every day. It will really give the child extra imaginative context for the story and hopefully boost their enthusiasm for tooth care too.

Make It Individual To Your Family

Every family has a different way they leave things out for Santa to eat on Christmas Eve or how they prepare for Easter, so try to do the same for the tooth fairy. Get your child involved with artwork where they draw what they think the tooth fairy looks like. They could even leave the picture with their tooth as a gift! You could take them to pick out a special box or pouch to put the tooth in when they leave it under the pillow. Special animated films like Rise of The Guardians which feature the tooth fairy, may also help your child to really imagine the scene and why tooth care is so important, and you could watch the film as a family together.

Get Support With Your Child's Oral health From Crown House Dental In Egham

If you want more ideas on helping your child feel positive about their oral health, or you want to register them or book a check-up, please get in touch. We have plenty of different tricks and tips we can use to help get children excited about oral health and we're here to support the whole family with maintaining happy, healthy smiles. Please call our team on 01784432641 and we will be happy to help you!