If you haven’t read our April blog titled Brush Away Toddler Decay – A Dental Survival Guide For Parents I highly recommend stopping here and reading it before carrying on. Our very own Sabrina Pereira gives you the best tips, tricks, and techniques for helping your toddler get into the groove of daily brushing. Today, I want to share my own personal experience on how to make toddler brushing fun- for them and for you!
Hello all! My name is Melody and I recently joined the DAW family, you will probably see me at the pediatric front desk while scheduling your child’s next appointment. I’ve been working in dental for about 3 years now and I’ve never been happier. I spend most of my free time with my sisters, niece (3 months) and nephew (2 ½ years).
I wanted to share a story with you all about how my nephew, Mathew, taught me that brushing your teeth can be fun at any age.
It all started one morning after a night of babysitting. He wasn’t feeling super great, so I was up with him all night long, barely getting any sleep. I had started to brush my teeth and I think he could tell something wasn’t quite right, so he climbed up on the counter and tried taking the brush right out of my mouth. 
I laughed and decided to just give him a toothbrush of his own. He starts looking at himself in the mirror and making the silliest faces while brushing his teeth. We sat there together brushing our teeth all while competing to see who could make the sillier face. In a matter of 36 seconds, I went from brushing my teeth like I was a defeated villain in a Disney movie, to laughing so hard my toothpaste almost came out my nose. It not only tricked him into brushing, but also set the both of us up to have a great day, despite the rough start.
On another occasion, I was driving with Mat to go grab dinner with his mom. This time, he was the one in a bad mood because he missed his mom. A song came on by Raffi about brushing your teeth, and I had decided to grab Mat’s attention and cheer him up like he did for me. I had sung along the best I could and pretended to brush my teeth with my finger during the chorus- and suddenly Mat was ecstatic. For the rest of the night until he got home, he hummed the song and brushed with his finger. Once he got home, he ran to the bathroom and made mom put the song to dance too while they brushed their teeth.
Before all this, I would spend the time brushing my teeth in the morning to stress about the day and at night; stress about what I didn’t get done. I believe a lot of people can relate to this because it can be so easy to get lost in your mind sometimes. Brushing can either allow you to return to that never ending labyrinth or break the cycle of your brain and take advantage of the little moments that can make a huge difference in your day. It may feel weird at first but making your own fun while brushing will not only get you excited about taking care of your oral health, but also put you in the right mindset to tackle your day with a positive outlook!
By: Melody Maltby (aka “The Fun Auntie”), Pediatric Front Desk Associate