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Building healthy oral hygiene habits early in childhood can take work. Making sure that your children floss and brush effectively can help them save their teeth for the length of their life. Because it can be hard to make sure your children avoid sticky, sweet foods that will cling to their teeth, a healthy mouthwash use habit is also a good investment of your teaching time with your child.
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Why Use Mouthwash for Kids?
Once children are at least six years old, teaching them to use a child-friendly mouthwash on a regular basis can promote several good habits. Sugary products, such as soda and candy, can easily be rinsed away with a natural mouthwash for kids.
A refreshing mouthwash for cavity prevention can also help your child focus on drinking more water. Flavorful drinks, such as pre-packaged juice combinations that include a lot of sugar, may lose their punch after your child uses a fluoride mouthwash for children. Once your child is used to the clean feeling left by an alcohol-free mouthwash for kids, your child may crave cool water.
There are many steps to making sure that your child uses even kids mouthwash safely. When children are very little, you can help them build swimming safety skills by having them “bubble” water in the pool. The lesson is that water that goes against the lips doesn’t necessarily go in the mouth.
Experts in pediatric mouthwash safety recommend similar lessons as your child learns to swish and spit. The best children’s mouthwash needs to spend some time in their mouth for best effect. Choose a song that your child recognizes and encourage them to listen while they rinse.
When teaching kids to use mouthwash, start with a very small amount of liquid. Encourage them to make an “ng” sound at the back of their tongue, such as at the end of the word “ding!” This will close off the passage to the glottis and protect them from choking or swallowing.
There are many mouthwash benefits for kids. Making the experience enjoyable will help your little ones build a strong habit of mouthwash use.
Types of Mouthwash for Kids
A natural mouthwash for children may be the best kids mouthwash. These are low in toxins, free of alcohol and generally light in flavor. Adults may like the punch of a fresh, minty mouthwash, but this flavor may be too strong for a child.
Keeping only alcohol-free mouthwash in your home may be the best plan once your children are walking. Mouthwash is often quite pretty in the bottle and may draw the eye of a toddler. If your child does get hold of your mouthwash, you can protect them with an alcohol-free product.
Fluoride mouthwashes, whether for children or adults, should never be swallowed. Make sure your child can be counted on to never swallow their mouthwash before you buy a product with fluoride added.
Choosing the Right Mouthwash
The best children’s mouthwash for your child is the one that they can use without discomfort. Skilled pediatric dentistswork hard to make sure that children can relax during dental care. A gentle and patient approach to teaching kids to use mouthwash will keep them engaged in dental care.
One of the keys to pediatric mouthwash safety is to make sure that you’re encouraging the child to succeed in age-appropriate tasks. If your child watches you floss and is ready to try on their own, you can guide and monitor their actions.
Investing in alcohol-free mouthwash for kids is critical to their safety. If your older child is adept and consistent at rinsing and spitting, they may be ready for fluoride mouthwash for children. Their younger siblings may not be. Effective storage is key.
A child-friendly mouthwash might be fruity or bubble gum flavored. A natural mouthwash for kids will likely be quite mild in flavor. It’s important to get the flavor right the first time. Mouthwash benefits for kids, including health gums and strong teeth, will be tougher to reach if the first taste is unpleasant. For this reason alone, it’s probably best to buy a mouthwash for cavity prevention rather than making up a DIY concoction.
How to Introduce Mouthwash to Your Child
Let your child watch you use mouthwash. Make sure they know you like the taste and appreciate the fresh feeling. Let them see you rinse and spit first. Gargling will take practice and more coordination.
Make using a kids mouthwash a rite of passage. When they turn six years old, take them shopping and let them pick out a flavor they like. Test it yourself to make sure it’s not too strong.
Have your child practice with water first. Once they have a little water in their mouth, have them hum a few notes. It’s not possible to sing and swallow at the same time and you want to be sure the back of the mouth is closed.
Next, have them hold the mouthwash in their mouth and spit it out. Once they have managed this process consistently, have them work on swishing thoroughly before spitting. Have them take a look at what is in the sink so they understand the point of using a child-friendly mouthwash.
Build a daily habit of mouthwash use with the guidance of your pediatric dentist. Do dental hygiene with your child, side by side, so they see you consistently using mouthwash the right way. Pediatric mouthwash safety requires coordination and practice, so monitor your child until you are confident they will not swallow their mouthwash.
Once you’re confident in your child’s mouthwash habit, you can consider upgrading to a fluoride mouthwash for children if your dentist recommends it. Let your dentist know of your child’s interest in mouthwash at the next checkup
Common Concerns and Myths
Mouthwash is dangerous for children.
Mouthwashes that contain alcohol can be dangerous because children may not be inclined to spit out the mouthwash. A fluoride product should also not be swallowed.
Children can’t learn to use mouthwash.
Like many new habits or skills, mouthwash takes motor control and practice. When teaching kids to use mouthwash, start with water and work with them on closing the back of the mouth to protect the glottis. Make sure you invest in an alcohol-free mouthwash for kids to protect them as they learn to spit out the product.
Children’s mouthwash is too sweet to be useful.
The best children’s mouthwash is one that is mild in flavor and pleasant. Make sure to always keep mouthwash in the bathroom to promote it as a health maintenance product and not a food. If your child is very fond of their mouthwash flavor, consider cutting it with water at time of use to make sure your child isn’t inclined to swallow it.
There are many mouthwash benefits for kids. Whether your pediatric dentist encourages you to teach your child to use mouthwash for cavity prevention or your child is interested in natural mouthwash for kids, early training for safe mouthwash use is key. Your child needs to learn to keep the back of their mouth closed. They’ll need to build a steady habit of rinsing and spitting. They need to understand the difference between health products and food products.