Technology is generally a part of most children’s lives now and whilst there has to be a balance, technology can be used to be a force of good in your child’s everyday life. Good habits start young and there are now many technologies that can be used to improve your child’s oral health. Here are some of our favourites!
Phone Apps
Brush DJ
The free multi-award-winning Brush DJ app is suitable for use by all ages. This toothbrush timer app plays 2 minutes of music from your devices, cloud or streaming service – to make toothbrushing for an effective length of time less boring!
The app is fully customisable for your child. Choosing their favourite colour, age-appropriate information and advice.
You can use Brush DJ with a manual or electric toothbrush and it allows you to set reminders to:
•Change your toothbrush/brush head every 3 months
•Brush at least twice a day
•Floss/clean interdentally every day
•Use a mouth wash at a different time to toothpaste
•When next to visit dentist, hygienist, orthodontist or dental therapist
Sugar Smart App
Change 4 Life – NHS have a fantastic website full of helpful information and advice on sugar swaps. There is also a ‘Sugar Smart‘ app from Public Health England which works by scanning the barcode of products to show the total sugar content in cubes or grams, aiming to help parents take control of their children’s sugar intake.
YouTube Videos
Brush Your Teeth Super Simple Songs
This is great for very little ones. Many parents of babys and toddlers are probably aware of this popular YouTube channel and their baby entrancing songs! This app is also nice and calm so an ideal song to incorporate into the bed time routine.
The Tooth Brushing Song – The Tooth Brushing Badge
A timed toothbrushing song good for young children. It includes enough time to get their toothbrush out and put the toothpaste on too.
Tooth Brushing Song by Blippi | 2-Minutes Brush Your Teeth for Kids
This video has over 87 million views! The Blippi teeth brushing song is an animated timed two minute catchy song. Get ready to sing it all day long!
Why do We Brush Our Teeth?
As children are getting older it would be good to get them involved with understanding why brushing their teeth is important.
Toothbrushes
Gondola Kids Bamboo Toothbrush
Okay so this isn’t very technical – it’s the reverse – back to basics. However, this eco-friendly toothbrush is ideal for very young children. Using a small manual toothbrush is more appropriate when your children are very little. The important part is to use a smudge of age-appropriate toothpaste and get them into healthy habits of brushing twice a day and limiting sugar intake.
The Disney MagicTimer App by Oral-B
Oral- B report that 90% of kids who use this product brush their teeth for longer. With a million downloads it’s a popular choice for parents. You buy any Oral-B Stages product, download the Disney MagicTimer app and scan the product with your device to watch the characters spring into action. As your child brushes their teeth, they can unveil a secret image. The longer they brush, the more the image is revealed.
There’s a calendar to help you track their progress and they can earn badges and rewards for frequent brushing. You can find out more about this here…
Philips Sonicare For Kids – connected electric toothbrush
The Philips Sonicare For Kids app syncs with your child’s sonic toothbrush to help them learn about oral care through play. Your child’s brushing coach challenges him to brush better and for longer. Each session starts with clear visual instructions about correct brushing techniques and the app’s progress monitor tracks the total performance. Kids learn while having fun, and parents get to see how well kids are doing between check-ups.
The app syncs with your child’s sonic toothbrush via Bluetooth to show proper brushing techniques and track performance. Kids can see how well they brush, and earn exciting rewards for a job well done.
As you can see technology can be a great aid for helping your child to achieve and maintain great oral health. Find out more about children’s dental health here…
