After few months of waking up late, spending days outside in the sun and not thinking about homework that needs to be done for tomorrow, it’s time for your kids to sharpen their pencils and prepare for the upcoming fall semester. Shopping with your children for backpacks, spiral notebooks and other school materials can be exciting, but some would say the back-to-school dentist visit is not.
Back-to-school season is a great time to get your kids in to see the dentist. These visits happen twice a year, and so aligning them with the start of fall and spring semester is an easy way to keep the habit.
With the right attitude toward dental check-ups, these semi-annual appointments can be built around the same excitement that shopping for spiral notebooks brings. Here are some added tips to start the school year off with smiles.
- Test your child’s oral hygiene habits
During the summer break, kids have a tendency to be neglectful of their brushing routine. And you’re not always in-the-know about what your kids eat and drink at summer parties or friends’ houses. The first step is to talk with your kids and educate them as to the why behind good oral hygiene.
- Start fresh after summer break with a dental cleaning and check-up
The start of the school year is a great opportunity to establish new routines. By making your kids’ semi-annual dental cleanings a standard practice with the start of each semester, the reminders about flossing and brushing can come in time for your children re-establishing their school-time routines. This gives kids the best shot at making tooth brushing and flossing a regular part of their daily picture.School-time dental check-ups are good for school attendance, too. By getting your kids’ teeth checked regularly, you can stay ahead of decay and avoid time out of school for getting cavities filled. Moreover, you can avoid toothaches that cause distraction during classes.
- Monitor your children‘s morning brushing
The great majority of school-aged children want to sleep those extra five minutes in the morning, and tooth brushing is one of the first things to skip once they wake in a hurry. If you’re at home in the morning, set a precise time to brush teeth together with your child. Rolemodel other good habits, too, like using toothpaste with fluoride. When you are not able to supervise, try requesting a tooth-brushing selfie from your child, if they have a phone or tablet. Creative solutions that lead to better oral hygiene are more beneficial than you might have thought.
- Mouth guards for little athletes
If your children play sports like football or soccer, include a mouth guard in their school-year purchases. Particularly for enthusiastic little athletes, you can encourage wearing guards like the tough, professional athlete do.
- Healthy lunchbox
What you pack in your kids’ lunch sacks will have a resounding effect on their oral health. It’s hard to monitor what children eat at school, especially with the swapping of lunch sack items. By including a few cleverly thought-out, tooth friendly items (like calcium-rich string cheese or natural-tooth brushing apple sticks), your kids can fill up on foods that are healthy for their metabolism and for their oral health, too.
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