Oral hygiene is an integral part of our wellbeing and what better way to start than to teach good oral healthcare routine in children.This will make a big difference in the future and an electric toothbrush is one of the best tool in encouraging your children to develop a great brushing habit.
When do kids start brushing?
Simple answer is when the first teeth start to appear. Even if it is chewing on a clean cotton cloth to any kind, teeth need to be cleaned of plaque. Then gradually start using soft bristle toothbrush, based on the comfort level of the child.
Do kids need an electric toothbrush?
Just like how an adult don’t have to have an electric toothbrush, for children also its not a necessity. There are more advantages of using an electric toothbrush in children, believe me, than it is in adults.
As a dentist, I introduced electric toothbrush for my son at the age of 5. And I ask myself why I waited so long. I bought him a Philips Sonicare for Kids Rechargeable Toothbrush, which had an app that we downloaded in our iPad.
He was excited and initially considered it as a new toy. He is nine years old now and even now he uses the app and enjoys collecting tokens for his Sparky (the character in the App).
It benefitted him more than we imagined. Initially my son was supervised while brushing. He felt very strange with the vibrations and funny/ tickly sensation in the mouth, which were something unusual for him. Once he was comfortable with that feeling, he absolutely loved using it.
We then agreed on a schedule of using Sonicare at night and manual brushing first thing in the morning. This ensures that he learns the correct technique with the manual toothbrush.
The benefits
Some of the benefits that we noticed by switching to electric tooth brush include:
- Timer: The 2 minute timer and the buzz after every 30 seconds really helped him to understand the amount of time left to brush. Most studies have shown that an average person thinks he has brushed for 2 minutes, however in reality its only been 39 seconds!! It is true for children as well. Studies have shown that adults and children brush their teeth for longer with electric toothbrushes.
- Speed:Speed of the movements is what cleans the teeth, breaks the bacterial build-up. So,the little ones are cleaning more effectively with an electric toothbrush compared to a manual toothbrush for the same amount of time.
- Brushing becomes fun! Because of the associated apps, children are more motivated to get those golden stars or more points by regular brushing and also for brushing for the whole cycle.My iCloud is filled with photos of Sparky!!
Which one to buy?
Note that below the age of three, manual brushing would be the best way. The electric brushes are not designed to perform in tiny mouths.
We recommend that you consult with your dental professional team before purchasing an electric toothbrush for your child as you need the right size and features for your children.It is recommended that children are supervised until the age of 7 or 8 immaterial of the use of electric or manual brushes.
Some of the popular toothbrushes according to age recommendations are:
- Philips SonicareSonic – Age 6 and up
- Comes in bold colours and variety of stickers
- Good Battery life, lasts multiple weeks on one charge
- Brush heads comes in 2 different sizes- small and large catering to wide age range
- Has both 2D and 3D oscillating modes
- Has 2 minutes timer and 30 sec buzz to change sides.
- Sparkly app is very interactive and encourages children.
- Oral B Junior electric toothbrushes – Age 6 years and up
- Battery life of about 7 days
- Has pressure sensors, so indicates when child brushes too hard.
- Comes in only one colour- purple
- Built-in timer- 2 minutes and buzzer for every 30 seconds
- Is not accompanied with any app
- Oral B stages Power – Age 3 to 6 year olds
- Most fun factor and it comes in variety of themes, for example: Disney cars, Star Wars, Disney Princess etc
- Battery life around 5 days
- 2D action only
- Disney app compatible with iPhone and other android, however recent reviews indicate they need upgrading (I haven’t used this personally)