Pediatric Dental Associates wants the best for your child. We will give him or her the dentist for kids Franklin Lakes services he or she needs to keep up with brushing and flossing and build the habits necessary to keep it going into adulthood. But in order to ensure your kid has a superb smile, you have to hold up your end of the bargain as well.

If you are an upstanding citizen who has the time and will power to set aside time every day to floss, congratulations, your teeth will remain healthy far into your later years. As for everyone else, well, you know who you are, and you have probably sat through many a lecture from many a dentist telling you the importance of flossing. For some reason, those lectures never really seem to hit home do they? So then how on earth do you plan to tell your child that he or she needs to floss every day, when you can’t even find the energy to do it yourself? Below is your guide to answering that question. And as for the rest, you can leave that part to us.

Step 1: Don’t worry

Firstly, it’s important to bear in mind that you’re not alone in this struggle. Flossing is a bit of a pain and that’s no secret. So it’s understandable if you feel like a bit of a hypocrite telling your kid the importance of flossing when you’re struggling to lead by example. That’s why the following technique is such a nice little trick. Because it will not only convince your kid to floss, but it may just give you the incentive you need to make a long overdue change in your morning and nightly routines.

Step 2: Get an apple

In order to really send a message, you need to provide a visual aid to help yourself and your child comprehend the consequences of neglecting to floss. Tell your child to imagine that this apple is a tooth. Take the apple and carve out a small hole in it. Show your child how delicious and juicy the inside looks. Then wait a few days and show that same apple to your kid. It doesn’t like so tasty anymore does it? It looks rather gross, as a matter of fact.

Step 3: Describe the metaphor

Then explain to your child how the apple has lots of sugar in it, and how sugar attracts nasty bacteria to move right on in and set up shop wherever they find it. Then explain how when you don’t brush and floss, you get cavities, which is like the equivalent of that hole in the appe. All that yucky gooey stuff you see in the apple will be in your mouth if you don’t take proper care of your teeth. Explain how a cavity not only looks gross, it also hurts, like a lot!

Step 4: Get some Play-dough

Then take some Play-Dough and have your child stick into the hole of the apple until it’s completely covered. Tell your child that this is what they would have to do to your child’s tooth in order to fix it. And that hurts as well!

Step 5: Make your point

Finally, it’s time to drive the point home, that all your child has to do is just take a few minutes, twice a day, to brush thoroughly and floss between your teeth, to keep any plaque or bacteria from developing on your child’s teeth or in his or her gums.

Learn more about how to teeth your child healthy dental habits. Contacting Pediatric Dental Associates (PDA) at 201-652-7020 and we’ll tell you all about our various dentist for kids Franklin Lakes services.