Every morning I usher each of my children into the washroom to brush their teeth and hair, just as I’m sure many other mothers do. The two bigger kids have accepted this as a daily routine and do it willingly, but my 6 year old is another story. To say that he is difficult would be a major understatement. He refuses to use the Oral-B Professional Care Electric Toothbrush we have, even though it has a fun timer with a happy face to indicate when your brushing with the right amount of pressure. I think it’s fun and Avery uses it without issue every day, but not Griffin. He wants his manual toothbrush and his strawberry toothpaste. He doesn’t want help and he doesn’t want floss, so we have a little wrestling match in the bathroom every morning while I ensure his teeth get properly cleaned. Then we get to do it all over again before bed. It’s a blast. Really.
Yesterday I toted Avery and Griffin off to an overdue dental appointment. Avery hopped up first and had her teeth checked. The dentist was impressed with how well she cared for her teeth. He said they were superb and that they didn’t even require a professional cleaning. The hygienist said she doesn’t hear that very often, so Avery was feeling pretty proud of herself, as she should be. Then it was Griffin’s turn.
Griffin didn’t get the same kind of response. Despite me helping him every day, his teeth are not as clean as they need to be and he has two cavities. The hygienist cleaned his teeth and was giving us some tips on how to help him do a better job on his dental hygiene when Avery said that she uses the electric toothbrush. Both the dentist and the hygienist were very pleased with that and strongly suggested that Griffin use it as well. They said it makes a huge difference, particularly in children who are not as eager to brush their teeth and maybe don’t do as good of a job as they should. They felt that the electric brush was the difference between Avery and Griffin’s dental hygiene. If they are right, a toothbrush could have saved me the $900 bill we are looking at to have his teeth fixed at the pediatric dental clinic.
Thankfully he’s a competitive child and doesn’t like his sister to excel over him, so he’s agreed to use the Oral-B ProfessionalCare Electric Toothbrush from now on, and he did it this morning with only minimal fighting. Let’s hope for a better check up next time!
I am a PGMom and received this toothbrush last year, and I receive products and compensation from P&G on occasion. This blog post was not sponsored or required.
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