The mother’s normal habits with regard to oral hygiene are to a large extent applied to her small child. If the mother cleans her teeth carefully, then her child will do so as well. If the mother cleans the baby’s teeth lovingly – then it is almost certain that later the child will also like to clean his or her teeth himself. But if the first toothbrush hurts the child, then the child will have a negative attitude towards cleaning teeth for years to come! Everything is up to the parents...
Not only because they have the responsibility but also through setting a good example to their children, teaching them and checking on what they do, parents give a lasting awareness to the need for good oral hygiene.
“Doing it” is the most important thing. As important however are the appropriate toothbrushes and dental-care aids. A hard toothbrush can hurt the child and can lead to an aversion to use it! Because of the child’s rather small mouth, it is impossible for a child to clean its teeth carefully with a toothbrush with a large head!
The definite moment for the personal development of a child, not only with regard to healthy dentition, occurs during the first few months of life. The more often and the more intensively the baby’s different senses are activated at the same time and the more it is exposed to very different stimuli, the greater are the beneficial effects on its physical and personal development.
The more different the stimuli – sucking, swallowing, biting – the better the development of the jaws and teeth. Unbalanced stimulation with only sucking, for example, tends to lead to underdevelopment of the jaws – so that later there is insufficient space for teeth and expensive orthodontic corrections are necessary. Biting on different surfaces (different shapes and hardnesses) motivates the child to long periods of “playing”.
As teeth are breaking through, during “teething”, biting on the ring largely reduces the baby’s whimpering or crying – either because it distracts the baby or because the biting soothes it. Anaesthetizing ointments or other analgesic drugs will hardly be needed.
CURAbaby playfully prepares the infant to the forthcoming use of toothbrushes and lifelong oral hygiene-the easiest way to prevent sufferance and expense due to tooth-decay.
With the CURAbaby teething-ring the small child is ideally prepared for its first toothbrush. Children’s teeth have to be treated with special care, as they can easily be attacked and destroyed by caries. When the first small teeth appear, it is time for the first toothbrush. The bristles play a very important role here. If they are too hard they can damage the baby’s or the child’s tender gums. Because this hurts, they resist having their teeth brushed. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
The ultrafine Curen®‚ bristles give the bristle-head softness AND cleaning power. Thanks to more than 2000 individual bristles and the small bristle-head, dental plaque can be removed carefully. The teeth are cleaned and the gums remain healthy. The advantages of CURAkid toothbrush are that from the beginning of their teeth cleaning career, the child is used to soft bristles and later will scarcely ever use hard toothbrushes - once a SOFTie - always SOFTie!
Cleaning teeth is something that must be learnt and practiced regularly. Parents have to play an important role here: as examples and as persons who are in the position to check, they can create good conditions for their children to have healthy teeth. Ideally, children’s teeth should be cleaned twice a day, after breakfast and before going to bed. Also, the parents themselves should thoroughly clean the teeth of their children up to the age of 8 years once a day.
CHEWING SURFACES
At first, the child brushes the chewing surfaces, backwards and forwards.
TIP
Teeth are cleaned better with eyes closed.
OUTER SURFACES
With jaws closed the child “paints” circles with its toothbrush on the outer surfaces of the teeth: from the back towards to the front on the right side, and the same on the left side. Then the incisors are also brushed clean.
INNER SURFACES
Then it is time for the inner surfaces, above and below. Again, the brushing starts right at the back and from red to white, that is, from the gums to the teeth. The inner surfaces are «brushed out» with small circular or rotating movements, like using a hand brush.
+BACK
Now brush all four molars in the back clean while holding the brush with the bristles as vertical as possible.
From the age of 5 to 6 years, clean between teeth with dental floss two or three times a week!