I say "humanely" because she is 17 months old and absolutely refuses to cooperate. Her father and I have tried gentle teamwork to no avail. I"ve even tried holding her upside down (she likes upside down.. it makes her open her mouth!) i'm at my wits end. her two top front teeth are begining to get small cavities and i'm definitely concerned. Due to her age the dentist can not sedate her or give her nitrous, so it would be even more traumatic for her (and us!). Any suggestions?
2007-01-09 12:43:18 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Dental
I work in pediatric dentistry and honestly regardless of the fight the teeth have to be cleaned. As parents no matter what you do you get unconditional love if its a fight then its a fight and then ten minutes later its forgotten rather than having her go to a dental office and possibly be traumatized. Avoid sugars(candy, fruits, juices, milk) if you absolutley cant get in her mouth try and get her to chew on a wet wash cloth and rinse with water, even if shes drinking the water she just needs to flush out bacteria in her mouth.
2007-01-10 18:32:11 · answer #1 · answered by Amilie R 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Make it a family thing where both you and her father brush your own teeth as well. Set a good example. Try to make it fun. Think of a game or make up a tooth brushing song. You could try a new toothbrush for her - maybe with Dora or some other fun character on it. Electric brushes are good for that too, but you will probably want to go easy on them, even flip the switch off once you're in. Use a very small amount of toothpaste at this point, especially since she's fighting it, and a soft brush. If you must restrain her, have one parent hold her in their lap, face up with head on knees and the other parent brush. Remember to praise her for being such a good girl.
2007-01-09 20:56:30 · answer #2 · answered by LaLa 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I has this problem with my daughter, she is now 22months, we bought some stickers at the dollar store, and every time she would let us brush her teeth we gave her a sticker, the first few times we has ti hold her down and brush them and then give her the sticker and tell her she was a good girl, after a few times of that she calmed down enough to let us do it, but if that doesn't work i would just do it whether she screams and cries, would you rather she screamed and freaked out or had to get a mouth full of fillings at an early age? Good luck the little toddlers are fiesty little things when they want to be, keep it up eventually she will know it is easier to just let you do it then scream and cry.
2007-01-09 20:53:13 · answer #3 · answered by Stuck in the middle of nowhere 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My son is older than your daughter, but this is what I do. I brought him to the store and let him pick out his own toothbrush (he got a firetruck) and then I picked out one for him. I let him do it "his" way with "his" toothbrush for a few minutes, then it's my turn to do it. Maybe if you let her to try to do a little herself she wouldn't mind when you did it.
Don't know if that would work, just a suggestion.
Or maybe even try when she's sleeping????
2007-01-09 20:53:07 · answer #4 · answered by hotmomma 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you tried just telling her straight-up what will happen? She's gonna go through alot of pain if she doesn't let you brush her teeth.
2007-01-09 20:51:22 · answer #5 · answered by booda2009 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋