Your “back to school” dental routine!

Now that the kids are all nicely settled into the new school term (we’ve heard those sighs of relief from all of you parents across Scotland!). it’s time to address some of those good habits that fell by the wayside during the summer. For children, the summer holidays are all about freedom, no lessons or homework to worry about, no exams, no uniforms, just plenty of time to relax and unwind ready for the new school year to start.

While they enjoyed a few weeks of bliss, it is often the case that routine falls a little by the wayside, so the start of the new school year can be a great time to re-introduce those good habits, and perhaps even begin some new ones. Of course, at Clyde Munro Dental Group we’re all about promoting an effective oral care regime at home, so we thought this ‘back to school’ time gives parents the perfect excuse to assess their kids’ current dental care agenda and potentially instil some great new habits, whatever their age! Here are our three top tips…

1. Check time spent brushing

We recommend that all patients – adults and children – spend two minutes, twice a day, brushing their teeth. This is the optimum amount of time because it’s not too long, but is perfectly adequate to enable good cleaning in each area of the mouth. You can break it down nicely to focus on each quadrant of the mouth (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right) for 30 seconds each. We find it helps to use a stopwatch – there’s one on your smartphone – to time this because most of us are guilty of not spending long enough brushing our teeth.

2. Get flossing

Insert massive groans from patients young and old here! We know that flossing is the biggest universal dental ‘telling off’, but it is so important because it’s the only way to clean the surfaces between the teeth. These are the spots that your toothbrush can’t reach, and also the places where food particles become trapped and plaque builds up. Failing to floss is like washing your car on the outside but leaving the interior to get really grubby. Flossing should begin as soon as two teeth touch, so even really young patients can start getting into the habit, the earlier the better.

3. Visit the dentist regularly

Dental checkups shouldn’t be left until a patient is in pain or has a problem, they should happen as often as your dentist recommends, which is usually every six months. This is because it allows us to keep an eye on things and spot any changes nice and early, so that we only ever need to carry out the minimal treatment. This not only saves time and money, but also the upset from possible pain when problems are left to develop. Get the school year off to a flying start by booking your kids in for their routine check up (don’t forget yours, too), just search for your nearest Clyde Munro dental practice here.