I'm Worrying About Teeth Now

Do you worry about your children's oral hygiene? If so, I have the perfect new tool for you to incorporate into your children's daily oral regime. Water flossers are great for young kids. 

When my son was around 15 months old he simply stopped eating. Just.Like.That. It was horrifying. Days would go by and he would eat like two M&Ms or a handful of grape tomatoes or a bite of pie crust. So, off to the pediatrician we went and then off to some specialists for loads of tests and more tests and even more tests. We are given a diagnosis and we began a myriad of therapies to help our little boy. But through all these steps, he still wasn't eating. Not even in heart wrenching Eating Therapy.

Our pediatrician assured us he was not starving and would not starve. She literally told us to feed him whatever he would eat, as much as he wanted and when ever he wanted it. We were worried about dietary issues and teeth issues and her answer was always "we'll worry about all that stuff later".

This set the tone for how I fed my son. Whatever he wanted I gave him. I would jump over the moon to get him to eat something, anything. This carried over onto my daughter eating habits and diet. She would see my son eating a half a pound a bacon and day and wonder why she couldn't eat what she wanted as well. Why could my son drink as much juice as he wanted and she could not. Well, what an uproar we had in our house. And being the marshmallow momma that I am, I simply gave in and let my kids pretty much eat what they wanted and drink what they wanted.

I would simply 'worry about it later'.

Well, it's later and guess what. My kids teeth are a huge concern for me right now. Right now we are paying for my lack of good parenting when it came to their oral care.

We had a dentist that the children saw and he wasn't picked because he was a great children's dentist or for his wonderful manner with our kids. He was simply picked because my husband sees him and my husband sees him because it is close and convenient.

My son had some major issues with his baby teeth not ever falling out and his adult teeth popping up behind all the baby teeth. A very over crowded mouth he had according to the orthodontist and back to the dentist with orders to pull a lot of teeth. Four teeth to be exact. Well, I was not too pleased with how this all took place in the not so great dentist office. My son sat there scared, terrified, petrified and the dentist was just awful about the entire thing. I knew it was time to locate a fabulous dentist for my children.

I'm now happy to report that we have a fantastic dentist and hygienist. I'm sad to report that my children's teeth are paying the price for my lack of controlling their diet when they were much younger. Our new hygienist and dentist informed me that my daughter has some major issues with her teeth and she actually had six cavities! I thought for sure this was some sort of scam and asked to see the x-rays and sure enough, she had a mouthful of cavities. My 'worrying about it later' attitude didn't work at all.

My son had four more teeth pulled by this wonderful dentist and nary a tear was shed!  We have a strict regiment of brushing and flossing now that we adhere to AND we now have glowing checkups with our lovely dentist. The orthodontist even noticed the difference in the kiddos teeth!

Yes, we are already visiting the orthodontist. I have two children with braces. My son has been wearing his braces for a year and a half now and will be wearing them for another three and a half years {hopefully not longer}. My daughter has a palatal extender in her mouth and will be getting her braces in as soon as all her adult teeth are finished popping through.

My kids know how important it is to take good care of their adult teeth because guess what? 'Worrying about it later didn't work' for them. It is extremely important to take care of your adult teeth because it's the only pair you will get! My kids are now regular flossers. So much so that they know instantly when they need to floss. I actually carry around a baggy full of floss picks and brushes for my children's oral hygiene if we happen to be out and need to floss.

If we are at home we happen to have the greatest gadget in the nation. We now have a water flosser. This little baby has made my life so much easier. If you have ever tried to brush your kids teeth with braces or extenders you know it is not easy. In fact it is extremely difficult. I used to have to get the flashlight out and inspect their mouths to make sure everything was thoroughly clean and debris free. Not anymore! The orthodontist even remarked that the color of my kids gums were even pinker. This is a great sign of healthy gums because of good flossing! Did you know that hand flossing can actually drag bacteria back into your gums? The WaterPik flosser is the healthiest route for my kids mouths!

The major aspect of the water flosser is that it is fun for my kids to use. Therefore, I have increased compliance. This makes it so much easy for me to remain a marshmallow momma! I'm no longer worrying about good oral hygiene later. But right now, each and every day.

Disclosure: I received free product in exchange for this post.  All opinions expressed are my own.