Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Tooth brushing

Brushing teeth is one of the many importance of hygiene taught to everyone especially to the children. One of the main reasons is that it is an essential part of oral hygiene to prevent several forms of dental problems like cavities,  gingivitis and bad breath. Therefore it is a must for everyone to clean their teeth daily even children who do not live what they call the  "normal lives". 

In our case, children brush their teeth after eating. Tooth brushes are given mostly to children who attend activities regularly. Children who come occasionally have tooth brushes also but most of the time they are not around to use it. Each tooth brush is labeled with the child’s name and must be returned after using it to be used every time there is activity.

The steps in tooth brushing  like the following is taught to them which do not take not longer than 5 minutes.

Steps in Tooth brushing:
1. Holding their own toothbrush at a 45 angle against their gums (of course with tooth paste on the tooth brush)
2. Start brushing from one end and go to the other careful not to miss any spots.
3. On the outer or inner surfaces, vibrate the brush in half tooth wide strokes towards the gum line. 4. Do not scrub. 
5. Clean molars with back and forth motion.
6. Hold the brush vertically with up and down strokes on the inside of the front teeth.

A team member or any other older responsible child or at least 2 children needs to assist the children especially the younger ones in putting toothpaste on their toothbrushes and to fix the tooth brushes in the container box after using it.