kellmar98

My 7 year old HATES brushing her teeth. Well she hates to have her
hair combed too. The hair thing.....well who cares, it can be one big
messy knot and it's of no consequence. The teeth.....well they are
gonna rot out of her mouth. She does not want me to do it, and she
refuses to do it herself. So I have let it go for a period of time
thinking it would start to bother her......NOPE, she has fur growing
on those babies and she could care less. I'm just not sure how to
approach this one.

Kelly

Karen Swanay

Actually, this is not true. Tooth rot has more to do with a genetic roll of
the dice than care. I am 36 yrs old and have on paper taken horrible care
of my teeth. As a child I did not brush for MONTHS. Even now, I do not
brush twice a day (mostly because I have mouth ulcers and at times it's too
painful to brush.) I have NO cavities. No rot, no periodontal disease.
Both my brothers take much better care of their teeth but they have tons of
fillings. I really think it's just a matter of chance. So as uptight as I
am about everything else still <bg> on tooth brushing I sort of leave it
alone. I remind every now and again "Hey, have you brushed your teeth
lately?" But I don't ever bug them about it.

You can give other things a try...toothbrushes that make music, light up,
bubblegum toothpaste. Offer different options perhaps. Also gauze on a
finger tip works too. Not as good as a brushing but better than nothing.

I'm not going to comment at all on the "shoulds" or "coulds" really since
I'm too new at this. I just wanted to put your mind at ease about the rot.

Karen


On 10/8/07, kellmar98 <kellmar98@...> wrote:
>
> My 7 year old HATES brushing her teeth. Well she hates to have her
> hair combed too. The hair thing.....well who cares, it can be one big
> messy knot and it's of no consequence. The teeth.....well they are
> gonna rot out of her mouth. She does not want me to do it, and she
> refuses to do it herself. So I have let it go for a period of time
> thinking it would start to bother her......NOPE, she has fur growing
> on those babies and she could care less. I'm just not sure how to
> approach this one.
>
> Kelly
>
>
>



--
"Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about."

LOI 1/26/07
PA 3/22/07
DTC 8/10/07
Disclaimer: Any errors in spelling, tact, or fact are transmission errors.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

momma

Absolutely. My grandmother used to say, "You either got good spit or
bad spit." I brush my teeth after every meal. I even carry a
toothbrush and toothpaste in my purse and have been know to give
myself a quick brush in the car. Last year I had to have 4 root
canals and 3 cavities fixed! My husband usually brushes once a day,
sometimes twice and very seldom has any problems. I can only remember
him having one cavity in the last 10 years.
My dd was tremendously influenced by our last trip to the dentist. He
is very good with children and took the time to show her with a
plastic model how to brush most effectively. He talked to her on her
level and explained all about dental care. I have also been able to
find cute little books about dental care that my kids enjoyed. This
helped a great deal. Sometimes if we are going out I will ask them if
they remembered to brush and try to remind them before bed but other
than that I don't worry too much about it. My own experiences have
shown me that it doesn't make a whole lot of difference in how many
dental problems a person has.
Aubrey


--- In [email protected], "Karen Swanay"
<luvbullbreeds@...> wrote:
>
> Actually, this is not true. Tooth rot has more to do with a
genetic roll of
> the dice than care. I am 36 yrs old and have on paper taken
horrible care
> of my teeth. As a child I did not brush for MONTHS. Even now, I
do not
> brush twice a day (mostly because I have mouth ulcers and at times
it's too
> painful to brush.) I have NO cavities. No rot, no periodontal
disease.
> Both my brothers take much better care of their teeth but they have
tons of
> fillings. I really think it's just a matter of chance. So as
uptight as I
> am about everything else still <bg> on tooth brushing I sort of
leave it
> alone. I remind every now and again "Hey, have you brushed your
teeth
> lately?" But I don't ever bug them about it.
>
> You can give other things a try...toothbrushes that make music,
light up,
> bubblegum toothpaste. Offer different options perhaps. Also gauze
on a
> finger tip works too. Not as good as a brushing but better than
nothing.
>
> I'm not going to comment at all on the "shoulds" or "coulds" really
since
> I'm too new at this. I just wanted to put your mind at ease about
the rot.
>
> Karen
>
>
> On 10/8/07, kellmar98 <kellmar98@...> wrote:
> >
> > My 7 year old HATES brushing her teeth. Well she hates to have
her
> > hair combed too. The hair thing.....well who cares, it can be one
big
> > messy knot and it's of no consequence. The teeth.....well they are
> > gonna rot out of her mouth. She does not want me to do it, and she
> > refuses to do it herself. So I have let it go for a period of time
> > thinking it would start to bother her......NOPE, she has fur
growing
> > on those babies and she could care less. I'm just not sure how to
> > approach this one.
> >
> > Kelly
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care
about."
>
> LOI 1/26/07
> PA 3/22/07
> DTC 8/10/07
> Disclaimer: Any errors in spelling, tact, or fact are transmission
errors.
>
> ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Kelly Weyd

I do agree with you by the way. I have one cavity and have not taken the best care of my teeth. My father is the same way, and I'm pretty sure genetically I got his teeth. Both of my girls are adopted. My 9 year old has the worst teeth ever. I lost count a long time ago on the number of cavities she has. We go to the dentist every six months and she has anywhere from 2-4 cavities every time, and she DOES brush her teeth. Now my 7 year old is the one that does not brush her teeth. She only has 1 cavity so far, but really I have no history on how her birth parents teeth were. The kid is gonna need braces for sure.

I really just don't know if I should let it go, remind her once and a while to brush her teeth or what. I certainly don't want to be the big bully standing over her telling her she WILL brush her teeth.

Kelly

Karen Swanay <luvbullbreeds@...> wrote:
Actually, this is not true. Tooth rot has more to do with a genetic roll of
the dice than care. I am 36 yrs old and have on paper taken horrible care
of my teeth. As a child I did not brush for MONTHS. Even now, I do not
brush twice a day (mostly because I have mouth ulcers and at times it's too
painful to brush.) I have NO cavities. No rot, no periodontal disease.
Both my brothers take much better care of their teeth but they have tons of
fillings. I really think it's just a matter of chance. So as uptight as I
am about everything else still <bg> on tooth brushing I sort of leave it
alone. I remind every now and again "Hey, have you brushed your teeth
lately?" But I don't ever bug them about it.

You can give other things a try...toothbrushes that make music, light up,
bubblegum toothpaste. Offer different options perhaps. Also gauze on a
finger tip works too. Not as good as a brushing but better than nothing.

I'm not going to comment at all on the "shoulds" or "coulds" really since
I'm too new at this. I just wanted to put your mind at ease about the rot.

Karen

On 10/8/07, kellmar98 <kellmar98@...> wrote:
>
> My 7 year old HATES brushing her teeth. Well she hates to have her
> hair combed too. The hair thing.....well who cares, it can be one big
> messy knot and it's of no consequence. The teeth.....well they are
> gonna rot out of her mouth. She does not want me to do it, and she
> refuses to do it herself. So I have let it go for a period of time
> thinking it would start to bother her......NOPE, she has fur growing
> on those babies and she could care less. I'm just not sure how to
> approach this one.
>
> Kelly
>
>
>

--
"Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about."

LOI 1/26/07
PA 3/22/07
DTC 8/10/07
Disclaimer: Any errors in spelling, tact, or fact are transmission errors.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Meredith

--- In [email protected], "momma" <southernbelle@...>
wrote:
>
> Absolutely. My grandmother used to say, "You either got good spit or
> bad spit."

Your granny was on to something. The ph of your saliva, and how quickly
it stabilizes, can be a big issue in terms of dental caries - its also
something that can be amended with diet, although that may or may not
be helpful if you have a kid with a more limited diet.

Its another way to talk about food and teeth and health with a child,
though. We bought a pack of ph-test strip designed to test saliva and
periodically Mo and I will check our spit at various times of the day.
I don't use it as a way to coerce her into specific behavior, but it
does make a great jumping off point for discussing a whole bunch of
different subjects, some of them actually relating to health!

---Meredith (Mo 6, Ray 14)

momma

I also have to say the since my children have gotten older and care
more about thier appearence the teeth brushing, hair combing,
deoderant, etc. have become part of thier daily routine without much
reminding from me at all.
Aubrey


--- In [email protected], "kellmar98" <kellmar98@...>
wrote:
>
> My 7 year old HATES brushing her teeth. Well she hates to have her
> hair combed too. The hair thing.....well who cares, it can be one
big
> messy knot and it's of no consequence. The teeth.....well they are
> gonna rot out of her mouth. She does not want me to do it, and she
> refuses to do it herself. So I have let it go for a period of time
> thinking it would start to bother her......NOPE, she has fur growing
> on those babies and she could care less. I'm just not sure how to
> approach this one.
>
> Kelly
>

Melissa

I don't know, my girls go in phases. I don't push it, but when we
visit the dentist, they love our hygienist and if she says that it
looks like their teeth look uncared for, they want to keep them clean
for her. With the boys it's such a part of their nightly routine,
that they just expect it. I imagine at some point they'll say "not
now" and run off.
One thing I did do was buy the ACT floride treatment, which they do
like to use, and I feel like at least they are strengthening their
teeth even if they don't brush as well. Eating apples and cheese is
supposed to be good, as well as a glass of water after meals. We also
play dentist sometimes, where we take turns brushing teeth. I'll just
say that it's been a while and ask if they want to play dentist.
We've also experimented a lot with brushes and pastes. For while,
Breanna would let us use a washcloth to clean her teeth, it works as
well without all the overwhelming sensory issues of the hundred
bristles and toothpaste flavor.
Melissa
Mom to Josh (12), Breanna (10), Emily (8), Rachel (7), Sam (6), Dan
(4), and Avari Rose (19 months)

share our lives at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma



On Oct 8, 2007, at 12:05 PM, kellmar98 wrote:

> My 7 year old HATES brushing her teeth. Well she hates to have her
> hair combed too. The hair thing.....well who cares, it can be one big
> messy knot and it's of no consequence. The teeth.....well they are
> gonna rot out of her mouth. She does not want me to do it, and she
> refuses to do it herself. So I have let it go for a period of time
> thinking it would start to bother her......NOPE, she has fur growing
> on those babies and she could care less. I'm just not sure how to
> approach this one.
>
> Kelly
>
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Faith Void

Where would one find ph strips for the mouth and how does one read them?
That sounds really interesting to me. I don't know if my kids would be into
it but I want to try that out.

I tend to let tooth brushing go. We have a chart that we put a mark on if we
remember to brush our teeth (including mama and papa) this is not a reward
thing, just a reminder chart. The kids (and us) can see if we have brushed
our teeth at least once per day. This really helps me because I have a hard
time remembering things.


On 10/8/07, Meredith <meredith@...> wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected]<unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "momma" <southernbelle@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > Absolutely. My grandmother used to say, "You either got good spit or
> > bad spit."
>
> Your granny was on to something. The ph of your saliva, and how quickly
> it stabilizes, can be a big issue in terms of dental caries - its also
> something that can be amended with diet, although that may or may not
> be helpful if you have a kid with a more limited diet.
>
> Its another way to talk about food and teeth and health with a child,
> though. We bought a pack of ph-test strip designed to test saliva and
> periodically Mo and I will check our spit at various times of the day.
> I don't use it as a way to coerce her into specific behavior, but it
> does make a great jumping off point for discussing a whole bunch of
> different subjects, some of them actually relating to health!
>
> ---Meredith (Mo 6, Ray 14)
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Deb

--- In [email protected], Kendrah Nilsestuen
<carebear-79@...> wrote:
> In the end though what else can you
> do? You can't hold her down to brush her teeth.
>
Actually, yes, some folks can and do exactly that.

For us, DS would sometimes comment on my (or DH's) "morning breath"
by saying our breath was "hot" and we'd go brush. So, when his
breath gets "hot", I'll mention it and ask if he wants help or wants
to do it himself (he's 9). I think that's another big area of the
situation too - just because a child is 6 or 7 or 8 or whatever
doesn't mean they "have to" brush on their own by themselves in the
bathroom. Sometimes we've had three tiered brushing action with DS,
then me looking over him into the mirror and DH looking over my head
(which usually occasions lots of silliness BTW). Often, DS will
request I do the brushing for him, so I do. Sometimes we'll take the
toothbrush, a small cup of water to rinse and another cup to spit
into (and a small washcloth) into the other room and brushing occurs
while watching TV. Sometimes brushing doesn't occur before bed and
after breakfast but at other times of the day when there's a
convenient 'pause' in the activity level of the day and that's cool
too.

--Deb

[email protected]

In a message dated 10/8/2007 10:07:10 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
kellmar98@... writes:

My 7 year old HATES brushing her teeth. Well she hates to have her
hair combed too. The hair thing.....well who cares, it can be one big
messy knot and it's of no consequence. The teeth.....well they are
gonna rot out of her mouth. She does not want me to do it, and she
refuses to do it herself. So I have let it go for a period of time
thinking it would start to bother her......NOPE, she has fur growing
on those babies and she could care less. I'm just not sure how to
approach this one.

Kelly


_______________________

Kelly, would she respond well to pictures of what *can* happen to unbrushed
teeth?

We have the hairbrushing thing here with Julian (he's 5, has long hair, I
have some ideas if you want them - mainly LOTS of this GREAT conditioner I found
that costs an arm and a leg, lol, and some other things to help him cope).
The teeth, he has no issues with buuuut....Ideas, perhaps?

Electric toothbrush that she can use in any room at any time?

A different flavored toothpaste? Or none?

Half and half? Uppers at one time, lowers at another?

Use of a timer so she can see that time passes quickly? (or would that make
it seem like forever to her?)

That's tough...I'll look for more answers myself!

Karen PS



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Shannon Rizzo

Kelly

Does she have cavities or are you more "afraid" that her teeth will rot out
of her mouth?

There are things you can do besides actually brushing teeth: use Dr. Ray's
Spiffies wipes (http://www.drraysproducts.com/). These are individually
foil-wrapped wet wipes for teeth that have xylitol in them. My younger ones
chew them like gum and then spit them out; she could wrap one around her
finger or chew it. The great thing about these is you can carry them around
with you - she can clean her teet whenever she gets the urge.

She can also rinse her mouth with a baking soda or xylitol wash, instead of
brushing. Some foods, such as cheese, are good for teeth. She can chew
xylitol gum or eat xylitol mints (www.xylitolnow.com,
http://homesteadmarket.com/about.html, or www.xlear.com have good products).

You asked how we handle it: half of our family (my sons and I) have the
strep mutans bacteria that causes early childhood caries (ECC). Early
Childhood Caries (ECC) is the most infectious disease among children younger
than five and is usually transmitted by a parent or caregiver (by biting a
piece of food and giving it to the child). My sons both had partial bridges
by the time they were two. By the time my youngest was two, he had 6 teeth
pulled and had two lower molar crowns. I could visibly see the teeth
dissolving over a two week period and could see a HOLE through one of his
molars. I brush, floss, and still was going in for a cavity repair every
month or two, and have 4 root canals and a couple additional crowns.

One of the changes we made was to brush before instead of after eating. The
bacteria must come in contact with sugar or carbohydrates to acidify; even
brushing immediately after eating allows the bacteria to acidify. By
brushing before eating one removes the bacterial plaque, which takes
twenty-four hours to recolonize. We also eat foods to remineralize our teeth
and take cod liver oil, and use xylitol toothpaste and products.

My youngest has not had a single cavity in two years. One eye tooth that
had begun calcifying when we made our changes - has not progressed AT ALL
into any decay (I have an explorer and check for sticky spots).

We do not have any resistance to tooth brushing, is just part of our routine
like washing hands after using the bathroom. We keep toothbrushes in the
kitchen, the bathroom, and the car, for convenience (there is no adult
looming over them - sometimes we feel our teeth are fuzzy and are too busy
to go to the bathroom to brush them - kitchen is then more handy). My boys
would much rather brush their teeth than have emergency extractions for
teeth that have broken off at the gumline (this happened to my youngest and
was probably the most agonizing parenting moment I have ever gone through;
with the other son his top four teeth broke in half after a fall onto
carpet). For my boys, they lay on the bed at night and "mommy robot" brings
the robot brush - or they are frozen and the tooth brush unfreezes them -
whatever game they invent, I will do.

As you can see there are numerous alternatives to actually brushing, I hope
one of these works for you and your daughter.

Shannon

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9:04 AM

Ren Allen

~~You can give other things a try...toothbrushes that make music,
light up, bubblegum toothpaste. Offer different options perhaps.
Also gauze on a finger tip works too. Not as good as a brushing but
better than nothing.~~

Well dang Karen! You sound like a bonafide radical.;)

I agree with you about the genetic factor. My youngest has some
sensory issues and doesn't like brushing very often. He also has teeth
that aren't especially healthy. We found this mouthwash that has
xylitol and no alcohol, so he loves it. We also keep baking soda
around.....

His adult teeth have just started coming in so hopefully those will do
better than his baby teeth have. With all that breastfeeding he got,
you'd think it would help.

Ren
learninginfreedom.com

Kelly Weyd

Well my kid is freakishly strong. She would probably beat the crap out of me if I tried to pin her down to brush her teeth, LOL!!!

OK, all kidding aside........NO, I am not going to hold her down.

As part of starting an Unschooling Life (and I do have a way to go) I decided to give up a lot of the "daily" battles. For instance over the weekend the house really needed to be cleaned, and I really needed help. Nobody would help. My old self would have been screaming at the kids to clean up their rooms, etc. My youngest said to me, I am really tired and I don't want to help, which once again could have turned into me screaming. NOPE, I said ok, the kids went outside to play. I did what I could. Mostly the house did not get clean, but the earth did not fall off it's axis because the house did not get cleaned. Life is just too short for me to be screaming and freaking out over things like that. Anyway I guess my point is I'm not gonna freak out over the teeth either, and holding her down is not an option.

Kelly

Kendrah Nilsestuen <carebear-79@...> wrote:
<<You can't hold her down to brush her teeth.>>
>
<<Actually, yes, some folks can and do exactly that.>>

Yes, I realize that some people will forcibly hold a child down to
brush teeth. I find it incomprehensible myself. I figured that most
on this list would agree that it *can't* (literally yes, but you get
the drift) be done. It is just not an option.

Kendrah:)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Kelly Weyd

LOL, Mariah (7) has her hair cut real short, so even if it is not combed for days it can easily be taken care of. Now Lexi (9) has long hair, and it has not been combed in days, and it's starting to look like dread locks.........and I have no problem with dread locks for those of you who have them. I asked her (gently) to brush it today, and she looked at me and said NO. And I did not make a big deal out of it. I figure we will come up with a solution to nobody wanting to comb their hair at some point. Lexi does use conditioner when she showers, so that does help. I though maybe I would offer to put some braids in Lexi's hair or something like that, and then well as part of that I would have to brush her hair.
Kelly

Kidgie@... wrote:

In a message dated 10/8/2007 10:07:10 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
kellmar98@... writes:

My 7 year old HATES brushing her teeth. Well she hates to have her
hair combed too. The hair thing.....well who cares, it can be one big
messy knot and it's of no consequence. The teeth.....well they are
gonna rot out of her mouth. She does not want me to do it, and she
refuses to do it herself. So I have let it go for a period of time
thinking it would start to bother her......NOPE, she has fur growing
on those babies and she could care less. I'm just not sure how to
approach this one.

Kelly

_______________________

Kelly, would she respond well to pictures of what *can* happen to unbrushed
teeth?

We have the hairbrushing thing here with Julian (he's 5, has long hair, I
have some ideas if you want them - mainly LOTS of this GREAT conditioner I found
that costs an arm and a leg, lol, and some other things to help him cope).
The teeth, he has no issues with buuuut....Ideas, perhaps?

Electric toothbrush that she can use in any room at any time?

A different flavored toothpaste? Or none?

Half and half? Uppers at one time, lowers at another?

Use of a timer so she can see that time passes quickly? (or would that make
it seem like forever to her?)

That's tough...I'll look for more answers myself!

Karen PS

************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Krisula

I have one kid who neglected his teeth a lot and rarely gets a cavity. I
have another who is a good brusher and has had lots and lots of dental
issues starting when she was two. It does seem to be a bit of a roll of the
dice. Some things that helped here: I offer a small piece of cheddar
cheese at bed time to help remedy the PH of her mouth. My kids like it and
it is a really good way to keep the acid down. Also, there are so many
cool toothbrushes and flavors of toothpaste and stuff, now and then we all
go get new ones. It's always fun. In fact we were at Target today and we
each got a new fancy spinning toothbrush and I bought a different flavor
paste for each kid. Plus we got those cool little plastic flossers. I
spent more than I normally would but they all had a blast and they were
excited to try it out when we got home.

Krisula



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Kelly Weyd

I guess I forgot to mention that besides being allergic to food dye, my kid is also allergic to dairy so the cheese would be out too. Poor kid is allergic to everything.
Kelly

Krisula <krisula@...> wrote:
I have one kid who neglected his teeth a lot and rarely gets a cavity. I
have another who is a good brusher and has had lots and lots of dental
issues starting when she was two. It does seem to be a bit of a roll of the
dice. Some things that helped here: I offer a small piece of cheddar
cheese at bed time to help remedy the PH of her mouth. My kids like it and
it is a really good way to keep the acid down. Also, there are so many
cool toothbrushes and flavors of toothpaste and stuff, now and then we all
go get new ones. It's always fun. In fact we were at Target today and we
each got a new fancy spinning toothbrush and I bought a different flavor
paste for each kid. Plus we got those cool little plastic flossers. I
spent more than I normally would but they all had a blast and they were
excited to try it out when we got home.

Krisula

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Rachel Singer

Teeth brushing isn't a huge issue for us, but I always tell my children that
they have beautiful, healthy teeth. Likewise, I tell myself I have strong,
healthy teeth. I know older folks who simply made the decision to have
great teeth after having been told they had a mouth full of cavities. The
mind is powerful!

Love and Light,
Rachel

--
http://rachel.amazonherb.net/

http://rachel.e3flix.com/


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]