Kicking Kid's Bad Breath to the Curb

Articles on Kids | Topics: kids, kid

by Brysen Zimmerman

Kicking Kid's Bad Breath to the Curb

One of the most useful ways to help get rid of your child's bad breath is to educate your child on how bad breath is caused and how to prevent it.

You may want to find dental education tools that will help you in your aid of explaining how your child should take care of teeth. Some useful tools to use in demonstrations such as these are diagrams, sample toothbrushes, mouth models with fake teeth, and more. There are also pamphlets and articles that are designed for young kids of reading age to view.

These will cover topics such as how bad breath develops as well as how to take proper care of teeth. All the information available to help kids learn about proper oral hygiene also includes the greater consequences of not taking care of teeth properly. These consequences include but are not limited to cavities, gum disease, and oral cancer. Also, you can tell your kids that if they do not take proper care of their teeth they may have to get them pulled out permanently. This is especially vital if that child has already developed a full mouth of adult teeth.

Some of the tips that can help reduce or eliminate your child's bad breath would be to show your child how to floss properly and to tell your child how to brush teeth properly. Not only the teeth should be brushed, you can say, but also the tongue and gums, and usually the brushing should be about 30 seconds to a minute long. Then you can show your child how to rinse with water, and how to gargle and rinse with mouthwash. You can also make sure that your child brushes in the morning and at night before bed. You should also make sure that your child brushes the sides of his or her mouth as well.

If your child is not very enthusiastic about teeth brushing, then you can coax that child by purchasing toothpastes that are flavored to kids' tastes. Bubblegum or fruit flavors are the most common flavors of children's toothpaste, and usually contain fluoride, a cavity fighting agent. Also, new flavors of mouthwash are coming out now and are tastier than some of the old traditional mouthwashes. Likewise, if it is hard to get your child to floss, there are now floss strings on handles that will make it easier for your children to floss.

Quote of the Day

I feel free as a bird. I’m in a unique position because I’m the boss. I buy what I like. I initiate things. I can experiment with all kinds of things I think the kids might be interested in. Nobody interferes. For me, it’s no chore to go to work. Most people never get to do this at any time in their lives.

—Sarah Houghton, U.S. librarian. As quoted in Working, book 9, by Studs Terkel (1973)

For best results, you should buy alcohol free mouthwash for your child because the mouthwash with alcohol could dry the mouth and cause greater risk to bacteria developing. These are the same bacteria that cause bad halitosis and leads to all of the above forms of teeth, and gum problems. Depending upon the age of your child, you may also want to add that taking care of teeth now will help the child to live longer, and will make that child's heart work longer, and more.

There are ways you can care for your child also that will help alleviate your child's bad breath as well. The first thing you need to do is know how children, especially toddlers and younger end up with bad breath in the first place. Some of the most common causes of bad breath for a toddler are dehydration, breathing through the mouth, not brushing properly, and lack of drinking and snacking during the day.

In order to fight against bad breath a toddler's eating habits need to be altered. Less snacking and more careful brushing as described earlier in this article will help. Furthermore, making sure the young child drinks plenty of liquid daily will help, along with snacking frequently throughout the day. The reason that drinking and snacking helps is that it rinses and pushes away any agents in a child's mouth that will form into odor causing bacteria.

Another way to combat against your child's bad breath is to make sure all colds and allergies are treated as thoroughly as possible. You can find over the counter medications as well as get prescriptions filled for your child for these allergy and cold conditions.

Besides taking the above steps to help your child take care of his or her teeth, you should make appointments to take your child to the dentist quite regularly. This should be done at least once ever 6 months. Furthermore, if there are any pains or soreness of the gums, you should get that checked out as well. The more you do for your child the healthy that child's teeth and mouth will be, and will be less likely to have bad breath.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Kicking Kid's Bad Breath to the Curb" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by FamilyBabyKids.com.

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