Tooth Brushing

M

mother of 2

Registered User
My 3 year old hates brushing her teeth. Every night she puts up a protest. She occassionally lets us brush her teeth without tooth paste, but she is getting really smelly breath. What can I do? Are there any natural methods or natural tooth pastes to get rid of her mouth odour?

Any advise appreciated!
 
The odor is most likely caused by bacteria on the tongue, so you'll need to brush the tongue. They also make (in the US anyway) tongue scrapers for this issue. Sometime they come on the backside of the tooth brush.
They also make all sorts of mouth wash, but the trick would be to make sure your child spits it out.
Failure to brush teeeth for years will cause bigger problems than bad breath.
 
have you tried brushing teeth all together jammed in the bathroom above the bathtub. and after brushing teeth, make a water spitting contest on the tub? if he doesn't brush his teeth, no spitting contest. it worked with my daughter.
 
joannek said:
have you tried brushing teeth all together jammed in the bathroom above the bathtub. and after brushing teeth, make a water spitting contest on the tub? if he doesn't brush his teeth, no spitting contest. it worked with my daughter.
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Our LO learned the same way (minus the spitting). He was just in the bathroom when mommy and daddy brushed their teeth and was dying to be like a big person. We let him hold our toothbrushes whilst we brushed our teeeth so he would get a sense of what we were doing. I would say he has been brushing his own teeth since he has had them; maybe before because he liked to chew on the brush. We have to do a little spot cleaning after, but he likes to put the brush in his mouth and move it around.
 
funny, you should say that... my son puts the toothbrush in his mouth, then moves his head instead!! it's hilarious to watch! i'm afraid that he's going to make himself dizzy one day and fall off his step (that goes up to the sink)
 
We got one of those spinning toothbrushes, that renewed interest for awhile. Also he has to do everything himself first, then I get my turn at his teeth. It has always been this way, he used to fight it esp. around 1.5 to 2 years, but not an issue anymore. If he doesn't cooperate, I hold him down and brush his teeth, which he hates, so it rarely happens that I neeed to do that. In our house this is a battle that he newver has a choice on, like riding in the car seat, so he has quickly learned fighting it doesn't work.
 
Sigh... I wish my DD learned that fighting doesn't work, capital. She hates having her teeth brushed and puts up a battle each and every single time. I've tried everything from buying her character toothbrushes to an electric toothbrush to different flavour toothpastes. NOTHING works. It's always a struggle. We have to force her, which of course upsets her and I am a little afraid of forcing it on her so much (but we do force) so that she becomes totally against the idea of brushing!
 
tzechuk, how old is your DD? small child usually likes to imitate what adults are doing, if she's seen you brush your teeth, she will also like to imitate & do it with you. have you checked her teeth or gums, maybe there's sth wrong & it hurts when she brushes her teeth? maybe that's why she's resisting brushing so much?

my cousin was 4 when she would resist brushing her teeth & every morning & night it'll be a big scene in her house cos she wouldn't brush her teeth. it turned out her front teeth were rotten and her gums were infected. when her teeth were pulled out, she was willing to brush her teeth.
 
If she has smelly breath then it may be that Joannek has hit the nail on the head (so to speak). ... Perhaps she has something wrong with her teeth that make it painful for her to do it! I know for certain that when my daughter (3yrs) has teething (she has one back tooth that keeps on coming out then going back in again - all rest were through ages ago) she does not tell me it hurts, although i can tell there is something wrong because she chews on things and gets very grumpy! ---> I wonder if this is because 6 months+ they are so used to having teeth that hurt!

Our little one has always been quite reluctant to brush her teeth, so we used to let her brush our teeth whilst we brushed hers - it was a litle bit painful for us, but worked! She now 'has' to do it herself, she is quite profficient, but (like Sleuth) we have to do a bit of spotting for her :yeah2
 
mother of 2 said:
My 3 year old hates brushing her teeth. Every night she puts up a protest. She occassionally lets us brush her teeth without tooth paste, but she is getting really smelly breath. What can I do? Are there any natural methods or natural tooth pastes to get rid of her mouth odour?

Any advise appreciated!
Click to expand...

The odour could be tooth decay. Might be an idea now for you child to go for a check up at the dentist. They may even give you some good tips on toothbrushing. GOOD LUCK
 
definite brush with her. it works for us too. she doesn't do it on her own, but would do it when i brush my teeth at the same time. and letting them do a bit of goggling and spitting definitely adds to the fun.
 
joannek said:
tzechuk, how old is your DD? small child usually likes to imitate what adults are doing, if she's seen you brush your teeth, she will also like to imitate & do it with you. have you checked her teeth or gums, maybe there's sth wrong & it hurts when she brushes her teeth? maybe that's why she's resisting brushing so much?

my cousin was 4 when she would resist brushing her teeth & every morning & night it'll be a big scene in her house cos she wouldn't brush her teeth. it turned out her front teeth were rotten and her gums were infected. when her teeth were pulled out, she was willing to brush her teeth.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure her front teeth are rotten/rotting - the dentist told us the way to go is to put crowns on her, which we are not willing to do.

My DD is not yet three (turning 3 in November) - she's had her front teeth since she was 5 months.. a LONG time - but she also has a few more years to go before she gets her adult teeth. I don't want her toothless.. and I don't know what to do.. why can we not just cap her teeth... why do we need to crown? Also they don't do anaesthetic in Korea, which sucks.. so I don't know what to do. A complete dilemma.
 
i don't know what to suggest. it's a tough call to choose between pulling out your DD's teeth & keeping them in. I woul dthink that if he resists brushing, it's going to be difficult to set a good habit of brushing & teeth hygiene, which we all need for a life-time.

maybe you can bring your DD to see another dentist & see what he suggests? someone with small kids, so he /she empathize with your situation.
 
tzechuk,
My son who is simlilar age as your LO, had exactly the same problem on brushing teeth, and after we spent a fortune fixing his teeth, he loooooves brushing teeth. I would definately recommend you taking your LO to a specialist (ie paediatric dentistry), not adult dentist. It costs a lot, but it's necessary coz if you don't fix the teeth properly (eg resulting in gaps), the permenant teeth will not come out nicely. PM me should you need the name of my son's dentist.
mailmail.
 
Thanks, ladies.

We took DD to a paed dentist - he did actually fill 2 of her bottom teeth already.. which totally traumatised her, which is one of the reasons why we are not willing to do anymore right now - but he is a Korean dentist, and although my husband is Korean, he himself didn't trust the dentist much when we took DD in for the second time for a consultation!!! I think we might have to take her to a dentist in Seoul. One that has been trained in the States or the UK (I am actually a Hong Kong/British Chinese).

Failing that, I will probably just take DD back home to the UK and let her see my friend, who is also a paed. dentist and see what he has to say about her teeth. Sigh..

The worst part of all this is that people see her teeth and think that I am not a good mother, cos I am letting my DD's teeth rot. But I have brushed her teeth religiously since she was 5 months old, morning and night. I have been told and read in a lot of places that it's hereditary and that it's inevitable, which makes me feel better (both DH and I have really bad teeth. I inherited mine from my mother.. he, I am not sure), but it still sucks.

Thanks for the support, anyway!!
 
Thanks for all the replies, we are persisting on the teeth brushing every night, but the battle is getting easier.

Can people tell me which dentist you take your little ones too, I've taken my little one to the dentist each time the family go, but she just watches and won't let the dentist touch her!
 
Matbe crowns are faster than caps, I'm not sure. I can't imagine trying to do extensive dental work on a 3 yr old without general anesthetic, how would they cooperate? I think it is a great suggestion to go to pediatric dentist and get a second opinion
 
Ive read that it is hereditary too,caused by the type of bacteria you have in your mouth, andit is more related to mom's teeth as if mom (it is usually mom's who do this) shares saliva with baby they get mom's bacteria so if mom has bad teeth, likely baby will too. We've all done that as mothers, eat off the same spoon, drink out of the same cup.
 
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