5 ways to encourage kids to brush their teeth

Brushing your teeth. It’s an important task everyone has to do to keep their oral health in check but for some reason, to kids, it’s a nightmare. Whether it be an ineffective swipe or two of the brush, a tantrum or a long bargaining process, often getting your child to brush for two minutes can feel like an impossible task.

But there are things you can do to help. Here are five ways for you to help encourage your kids to brush their teeth…

#1 Find a fun toothbrush

A fun toothbrush can make a world of difference when it comes to encouraging your child to brush their teeth. Try using the light-up CareDent Starlite kidsbrush which also helps kids time their brushing, the Colgate Minions Kids Toothbrush, or the Oral-B Stages brushes which suit a range of ages and come in cute cartoon characters.

And don’t forget about the toothpaste! beautyheaven loves the Colgate My First Mild Mint Gel Toothpaste and Jason Strawberry Kids Toothpaste.

#2 Bring music into the mix

Music is a marvellous way to make brushing more fun for kids. Not only can it serve as a great reminder to reinforce the daily habit, but brushing to the beat can make the two minutes more enjoyable so they fly past. One quick Youtube or app search and you’ll have plenty of teeth-brushing tunes at your fingertips!

#3 Set an example

Children watch you. So make sure you walk the walk when it comes to your own oral hygiene habits. If you can brush your teeth together, try doing that! Mimicking you might make it more fun for them and hopefully improve their technique if they do as you do.

Need to update your own oral hygiene products? beautyheaven loves the Oral-B Precision Gum Care Toothbrush, Colgate Total® Advanced Whitening Toothpaste, CareDent EeziFlossers and LISTERINE® Tartar Control.

#4 Implement an incentive

Sometimes all you need is a good reward to reinforce good habits and behaviours. Try setting up a brushing chart with stickers and offer a prize for when your child reaches a certain amount of stickers.

#5 Make it a game

Kids love to play. Turn teeth time into play time by creating a fun imaginary story, seeing who can create the most bubbles from brushing or pretending to destroy ‘sugar monsters’ that attack your teeth. Whatever the game, it’s likely to help pass the time until the two-minute mark. Just make sure they’re still actually getting every spot!

How did you encourage your kids to brush their teeth? Did you try any of these tactics?

49 Member Comments

Ellyloves 12 May 2021 4:28 PM

I can’t believe a spammer responded to my comment reporting to spam!

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Ellyloves 1 May 2021 8:19 AM

Reported spam below - 3 count.

BhH, please remove.

Ellyloves 1 May 2021 8:15 AM

All really great tips!! Will need to implement a sticker and reward system.

Lucy16 6 Jun 2019 10:40 AM

I swear by music.

Jen701 23 May 2019 6:32 PM

Electric toothbrushes are definitely the key for pre-teen children. My girls got electric toothbrushes around 10 and have adopted their own routines. No constant reminders needed anymore.

LnM2019 30 Jan 2019 11:00 AM

We have tried singing and making it fun, but a fun toothbrush seems to be our biggest hit!

katelhardman 24 Jan 2019 1:40 PM

I find it so hard to get my daughter to brush her teeth. Don't get me wrong, she loves it but she'll just suck on it and not actually brush her teeth.

Rhiannon93 16 Dec 2018 8:28 PM

Great tips there, my kids love to sing while cleaning their teeth :)

duality 6 Dec 2018 2:42 PM

lucky mine have been well used to it from very early baby days, it's just part of their routine and I don't have to perform tricks to get it to happen lol

Sootyhere 6 Dec 2018 1:13 PM

Start young with a nice soft baby toothbrush. It then just becomes habit.

ThisIsMe 6 Dec 2018 11:39 AM

I was lucky enough that I didn't have these issues with my girls but I know someone that no matter what his children are hysterical to brush their teeth; nothing has worked to date poor thing!

Dreamy 5 Dec 2018 9:24 AM

Sing song " Brush your teeth, brush brush..."

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skincare junkie 4 Dec 2018 9:56 PM

At what age should they start? Can't get any toothbrush into my daughter's mouth. She would cry so erratically that she would vomit her dinner out. She does accept me using finger and cloth to brush at the moment.

boston_and_bub 5 Dec 2018 7:56 PM

Try the silicone finger brushes! This worked for us :)

skincare junkie 5 Dec 2018 8:12 PM

That looks interesting! I just did a search and didn't know about these stuff! Great suggestions!! Thanks!!

Isabelbolton 3 Dec 2018 10:26 PM

I feel like I will be needing this advice soon, with my little one. We've checked off the fun toothbrush, so that's a start!

misfortune8 3 Dec 2018 1:40 AM

My father has false teeth, so when I was a kid I NEVER skipped brushing my teeth! If by chance I forgot, I'd have a nightmare that all my teeth fell out. Then I'd wake up & have to clean my teeth in the middle of the night. At 52 I've got cavity-free teeth!

I bought an Oral-B power toothbrush a couple of years ago & I love it! It's got a 2-minute timer. It used to go off when I was only three-quarters finished, so I'm now brushing quicker but more thoroughly than when I was brushing manually.

Elunia 2 Dec 2018 9:13 PM

I was told to brush my teeth so I did it. I sometimes sang the brush your teeth song from Play School to myself but that was me entertaining myself, not my parents entertaining me.

cityglenda 2 Dec 2018 5:22 PM

When I was growing up it was basically just do it kid so I passed this onto my daughter.

Okatko 2 Dec 2018 12:08 PM

I tried the singing a song method last night and it was a bit of a fail. If he wasn’t trying to sing while I was brushing g his teeth and making it harder he was dancing around on my lap and making me worry that I’d hurt him with the toothbrush.

Popsicle 2 Dec 2018 11:15 AM

Great tips

Karma Llama 2 Dec 2018 7:55 AM

I found variety worked so he didn't get bored of it as a littlie. So a variety of different toothbrushes and toothpaste flavours to choose from, to make it a fun activity. It also helped I found a great brand for tots called Jack & Jill, which he loved the taste of, so that made things easier.

Beauty Fan 69 2 Dec 2018 7:01 AM

These are great, encouraging tips; thanks so much.

IndieAna 1 Dec 2018 5:19 PM

Great tips to get the littlies to brush their teeth

Yohanna 1 Dec 2018 2:37 PM

Do not remember being encouraged in any way. My parents just told me to do it. They did it, so you just do it, as it was supposed to happen. Like eating, wearing clothes...etc

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