Battle of the Pearly Whites
July 12th 2008 04:06
There’s nothing quite like the infectious smile of a small child. Isaac’s toothy grin has never failed to charm since he started growing teeth at about 5 months.
After 18 months of teething (characterised by grizzling, drooling, Bonjela applications and rampant sleep deprivation) he has produced a mighty impressive set of chompers.
The problem we currently have is cleaning them. I desperately want Ike’s baby teeth to stay white and gorgeous, but he just won’t have a bar of this teeth-cleaning caper.
We’ve tried to make it fun with games and songs. We’ve let him have Mum’s toothbrush, Dad’s toothbrush, his own special toothbrushes featuring Shrek, ducks, the Wiggles and Winnie the Pooh. I even bought a special “finger toothbrush” which was interesting for about 5 seconds and then joined the reject pile.
We’ve tried special kids toothpaste, adult toothpaste, no toothpaste and pretend toothpaste. He will of course EAT the toothpaste, and happily smear it on the bathroom cabinet and floor. And the couch if he is quick enough.
We’ve tried brushing at the bathroom sink, the kitchen sink, in the bath, on the change table and walking around the house. All to no avail.
It’s not something we can give up on. His pongy dummy breath has a knock-out effect most mornings, and I’m obviously concerned about the ongoing state of his pearly whites. While he doesn’t eat lollies, drink soft drink or partake in any other dental “no nos”, the importance of brushing teeth is still right up there with keeping feet warm and bums clean.
In desperation I’ve developed a bathtime ritual which involves grabbing his head and scrubbing his teeth with a facewasher. He protests vigorously and for me it’s a rather extreme process which requires strength, skill and timing.
I’m hoping that as he grows, he’ll keep that gorgeous toothy grin, I’ll keep all of my fingers and he’ll soon decide that brushing teeth is fun after all. Wish me luck!
After 18 months of teething (characterised by grizzling, drooling, Bonjela applications and rampant sleep deprivation) he has produced a mighty impressive set of chompers.
The problem we currently have is cleaning them. I desperately want Ike’s baby teeth to stay white and gorgeous, but he just won’t have a bar of this teeth-cleaning caper.
We’ve tried to make it fun with games and songs. We’ve let him have Mum’s toothbrush, Dad’s toothbrush, his own special toothbrushes featuring Shrek, ducks, the Wiggles and Winnie the Pooh. I even bought a special “finger toothbrush” which was interesting for about 5 seconds and then joined the reject pile.
We’ve tried special kids toothpaste, adult toothpaste, no toothpaste and pretend toothpaste. He will of course EAT the toothpaste, and happily smear it on the bathroom cabinet and floor. And the couch if he is quick enough.
We’ve tried brushing at the bathroom sink, the kitchen sink, in the bath, on the change table and walking around the house. All to no avail.
It’s not something we can give up on. His pongy dummy breath has a knock-out effect most mornings, and I’m obviously concerned about the ongoing state of his pearly whites. While he doesn’t eat lollies, drink soft drink or partake in any other dental “no nos”, the importance of brushing teeth is still right up there with keeping feet warm and bums clean.
In desperation I’ve developed a bathtime ritual which involves grabbing his head and scrubbing his teeth with a facewasher. He protests vigorously and for me it’s a rather extreme process which requires strength, skill and timing.
I’m hoping that as he grows, he’ll keep that gorgeous toothy grin, I’ll keep all of my fingers and he’ll soon decide that brushing teeth is fun after all. Wish me luck!
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Comment by Sara Dobson
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