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I’ve spent a LOT of the last fortnight in dentists. I’ve also spent a lot of money, but at this stage I’m just happy for my sweet girl to have her teeth and be out of pain. For those that missed, there’s a back story here, but in short Lacey had a trampoline accident and one of her adult front teeth was pulled out. It was traumatic, and upsetting. We’re at the stage now where we’re trying to save the tooth {chances aren’t looking great sadly, but I’m still remaining optimistic} and then we’ll take it from there.
I’m one of those freaks that loves the dentist. I always have. WHY AM I SO WEIRD? I just love that clean feeling. Sadly, the rest of my family don’t share my enthusiasm. Asking my kids to brush their teeth {well, one kid in particular} is like I’m asking them to pick up dog poop with their fingers, TWICE A DAY.
I’m a big dreamer, but my goal with my dentist is to keep my real teeth until I’m super old. I don’t want to putting my teeth in a glass at night like my Nanna did. That scarred me for life. Teeth are important. To show Lacey how important looking after your teeth are, which I think she also learned pretty quickly with her accident!, we did this experiment. To do the same you just need some white-shelled eggs, a can of dark soft drink like coke or pepsi, a toothbrush and toothpaste.
All you have to do is boil the egg until hard, and then place in a bowl with the soft drink, and let it sit overnight. You could easily do this with coffee or other teeth-staining drinks {ahem, wine!}. Once the egg has sat in the liquid for 24 hours or more, take it out. The kids will be able to see how much it stains the eggs. Use a toothbrush and brush the egg, and see how much better the egg looks with a bit of cleaning.
LESSON: CLEAN YOUR TEETH KIDS, and stay off the soft drink!
I also made this chart so Lacey and Lulu can tick off when they’ve brushed their teeth, and we get a little reward at the end. A reward like SOFT DRINK. Kidding. Like a play at their favourite park or something equally as monotonous.
If we can somehow teach our kids that looking after your teeth is important from a young age, it just becomes a habit and they don’t end up being that dude with the bad breath because they’re allergic to brushing. Also, you get to keep your own teeth ’til your old. Bonus!
I’ve definitely saved with having a health fund. If you get a level of extras cover that is right for you, going to the dentist can be a lot more affordable, and your teeth will thank you {well they would if they could talk}.
Bupa has a whole heap of dental clinics that can help look after your family’s pearly whites. You can find a Bupa-owned dentist near you by clicking here.
How do you get your kids to do the dental routine? Got any tricks?
When I was little, I thought brushing my teeth seemed SO tedious. I always did it (my parents were good enforcers – bless them), but gosh I fought about it first or I procrastinated. Things only really clicked for me when I learned that bad breath was a thing and I did not want bad breath!!
Jeez, my boys LOVE brushing their teeth, sometimes I have to wrestle them out of the bathroom!! Weirdos 😉
Bupa has been my money saver in the last few weeks. I had always been a dentist avoider until about a year ago when I started getting jaw pains, and now that I’ve found a lovely dentist and going through braces and jaw surgery x 2. I can guarentee that health insurance is worth every cent! Without it I would be over $13000 poorer but I’m only less then $4000 poorer because I’m with bupa. ITS WORTH EVERY CENT PEOPLE! and also go to the dentist, not worth avoiding them for so long, just ask my teeth that needed a filling or 2! Teeth are important!
That is the cutest chart! We sing songs while brushing Olivia’s teeth, it just makes it all happen a bit easier and faster. I let her do it in the morning and I get to brush them at night.
My husband and I had just been talking about making sure our kids look after their teeth better and this chart is going to be the kick start that we need. It’s the whole both morning and night thing that seems to get forgotten about.
OMG Brilliant ! i’m always reminding (or nagging) my teenager to brush his manky teeth….. he always looks at me like I’ve grown another head or something, reckons i’m all OCD about it…. I cannot leave the house without cleaning my teeth or go to bed without cleaning them.
I printed out the teeth cleaning chart, put it in a plastic sleeve and stuck it on his wall with a texta… right where he can see it everyday. HAHA even told him he’d get a treat at the end of the week if he LEGITIMATELY ticked all the boxes …. be interesting to see what happens.
Did the same for my 3 year old, luckily she is still influenced by stories read at preschool etc about teeth going green, black then falling out …… she still thinks cleaning teeth is fun !!