Ok, who changed the rules...?
It was instilled in me when I was little that you brushed your teeth with toothpaste and then you spat it out and rinsed.
This is what I have instilled in my children and this is what Grandma still reminds them as well.
Well, hey guys, we need to move with the times....apparently!
It has changed.....you now encourage children to spit only and no rinsing.
The reasoning behind this......that the toothpaste they are using has flouride in it and if they spit only then residuel toothpaste with flouride will stay on their teeth during the night and help strengthen them further.
How do I know this update...by taking my kids to the school dental nurse. Unfortunately I thought I was being a good mother in taking Ben for an appointment outside of his normal school dental appointment schedule when I discovered some plaque build up on his new big teeth, I didn't want him to wait another 5 months until his next scheduled appointment at school, unfortunately what I wasn't prepared for was the Dental Therapist kindly telling me that 3, yes you read right, 3 of his back teeth are showing signs of bugs playing there and that they need to be filled.
I felt disappointed with myself, I thought I had been doing so well with them, they brush for 2 minutes (we have a timer) ever morning and evening, ok we are not fab at flossing, like not at all really and I suppose we have been a little slack in supervising their brushing this year, so even though they may have been brushing for 2 minutes I can't ensure the quality of the brushing. But I have been keeping a small eye on them and they have always had good check ups at the dental nurse who has always been impressed with their cute little purly white nuggets.
My boys do not sit all day long eating sweets and lollies, yes they drink cordial, but do not sit there supping it for hours on end, they drink their drink and then have a break before drinking again, so they are not having sugary food and liquid constantly sitting in their mouth.
So I was a little shocked actually today for her to ask if we were happy for her to fix up 1 of his teeth and to come back another time for the other 2.
I was suddenly having flash backs to my younger days of sitting in the dental chair having the same teeth filled.
However he was a fabulous little soldier sitting in that dental chair, he was giggling most of the time, the therapist had the best rapor with him that made everyone feel right at ease.
So this Wednesday coming he is having another little injection and filling done and then another 1 the following Wednesday.
I feel bad that he has to have it done, but at the same time very grateful that I took him today and we didn't find it all out in 5 months time (when it probably would have been a lot worse) at his next scheduled school appointment.
So maybe brushing time has just gone back on our schedule of things to watch over in the evenings when getting bedtimes sorted, no more just sending them to the bathroom, we need to pay a little bit more attention to what they are doing because now we have good practices instilled in them about brushing twice a day we now need to work on how/what exactly they are brushing.
P.S - when we collected Ben from school for his appointment today he proudly informed me that whilst eating his raw carrot at morning tea time he now had another wobbly tooth. (takes the current total to 2!)
Guess I better warn the tooth fairy this time round so she doesn't miss him out!
