The New Ways a Family Dental Office Can Teach a Child to Brush Their Teeth

In our Green Brook Township family dentist office, we are always looking for new ways to get children to be excited about oral health. Creating an oral hygiene routine early in life is beneficial since it influences the children throughout their lifetime. If they do not establish good habits now, there is a greater chance that they will have cavities and gum disease as they age. With that in mind, we recommend that you bring them in for teeth cleanings twice a year and set a good health routine at home. This is sometimes harder than it sounds, but we have ways to help.

Dental Health Videos

We are using media and specifically short videos to teach kids how to brush the right way and how to brush long enough. This works a lot better than charts and timers. Videos are more fun and kids are used to getting information this way. Whether through things they watch at home or even videos in school, this is now commonplace. When you visit our dental office, we will show your kids how to brush properly and remind them to brush for two minutes at a time. At home, you can use videos to reinforce these concepts until the next appointment.

American Dental Association Website

The American Dental Association has a website that provides resources for parents and children. On the website, they have brushing tutorials and a rewards chart that you can use to help motivate your children about brushing teeth. There are a series of two-minute videos that we recommend playing while your child brushes. The videos are not boring instructional videos with a guy in a lab coat but popular cartoons like Adventure Time and sing-alongs for the younger kids. With these videos, the child can actually watch something they are interested in for a full two minutes while benefitting their health. As a family dental office, our hope is that these videos will help children fall into a healthy routine of regular brushing. Children will also become familiar with brushing for the proper two minutes thanks to the length of the video. Once they are older and the videos are gone, they will hopefully continue with this habit.

Dental Hygiene Songs

For parents that are not too fond of videos, the children can dance along to their favorite music instead. Take turns picking songs and play something for two minutes at a time. This can be a fun game where you can even pick a song and make them guess where it is from or what band sings it. The goal is to do something that is fun with your children and incorporate oral hygiene into it. This creates positive associations that will encourage them to keep brushing as they get older. If you need help, visit our family dental office in Green Brook Township so that we can confirm what you are doing at home and remind your kids of the benefits of brushing regularly.

Visiting the Dentist is More Important Than Most Men Realize

As a dentist in Green Brook Township, we know that women are more likely to visit us for preventative care than men. This is in line with the common perception that men are less likely to visit the doctor in general. The Academy of General Dentistry conducted a poll to find out why a lot of men skip out on their appointments. Results for the survey come from dental professionals and patients.

Reasons Men Skip Dental Appointments

Only 5 percent of men do not receive teeth cleanings since they do not have a dentist. Another reason that men may not seek dental care is due to a lack of insurance.
Around 18 percent of men did not see a dentist because they felt like they did not have time to go in. This is a contradiction in perception and reality because not going to the dentist, exposes a person to having a future dental emergency that will typically require a more intensive and time-consuming procedure to correct. On the other hand, regular teeth cleanings only take around an hour, so this is a wiser course of action.
Another 30 percent of men had a dental phobia preventing them from visiting the dentist. We understand that millions of adults suffer from some form of dental anxiety due to a previous bad experience, very often a fear starting in one's childhood. Common or not, dentistry has improved significantly to the point that we can help our patients to relax prior to their procedure and ensure complete comfort during it. With that in mind, there is no need to fear a visit to the dentist.
The largest group, at 45 percent, said that they did not come in because they did not feel like it was necessary. As a dental professional, that is a fairly alarming statistic and shows how important it is to educate people as to why oral health matters. If you fall into this category, this is what you should know. –

Preventative Dental Care Is Important To Men's Health

Your digestion starts in the mouth so if you have an infection or a lot of plaque, you will eventually be swallowing it and sending it throughout your body. This may be what is causing the connection between heart health and gum health. Researchers find that the plaque on your teeth is the same substance that forms in your arteries, making it clear that it is important to prevent a lot of plaque from building up in your mouth. Simultaneously, they have found that 70 percent of those treated for heart disease also have gum disease, so the connection is a critical one.
We suggest that people also receive teeth cleanings at least twice a year due to how uncomfortable and inconvenient a toothache can be. By simply going to regularly scheduled dentist appointments, both men and women can remain in better oral health.