brushing teeth

[2CheekyMonkeys]

how long do you have to brush a 14 month olds teeth for? adults and older children is something like 2 minutes but i can only get the brush on my dd teeth for about 5 brush strokes at top and bottom. is this enough?

[MantaRay]

Hollo, it IS hard to do! I have the same problem, especially with Tom. But it is important to try and brush every surface of every tooth. So how long will really depend on how many teeth I guess. Different dentists will give you different opinions on when to start using toothpaste, (we have gone with around 2), but at any age the mechanics of the brushing is important - that is the physical brushing of the brush against the tooth. I wish I could give you some better advice on HOW to actually achieve this with a squirming reluctant child, but really for us it has just been patience and persistence. Often tag-teaming helps - one parent with the toothbrush and the other distracting. GL with it!

[Jayney]

My dentist said I should be flossing my then 2 year olds teeth. I thought I was doing good by catching her and getting a toothbrush in her mouth!

[*Ang*]

We find that by giving the young kids a toothbrush in the bath to "play" with they end up more often then not giving them a good brush themselves and we havent had to struggle! But as they get older (over 2) thats when we do the proper brush with toothpaste etc.