When your children reach a certain age, it becomes their own responsibility to take care of their teeth. However, most parents can tell you that kids often don't do a very good job of taking care of their teeth, and their visits to the dentist's office prove it. If you're concerned about the possibility of your child developing cavities or gum disease because they're not doing a good job with their teeth, then you should try this to find out if your children are doing a good job or not.

Plaque-Disclosing Tabs

Plaque-disclosing tablets are a specific tool that you can use to great effect in this situation. They're typically bright pink and are designed so that when you chew them, they adhere to dental plaque but nothing else. This means that if your child chews one after brushing their teeth, you'll be able to tell what areas they're missing or not doing a very good job with. It can, of course, also point out when your child has cheated and hasn't brushed their teeth at all!

How to Utilize Them to Grow New Good Habits

Plaque-disclosing tablets shouldn't be something that your child dreads or fears. Instead, you can use them to help your child to develop better habits.

Start out by just having your child brush their teeth normally without telling them anything. Then give them the tablet and take a look in the mirror together. Show your child all the areas that are pink or red and explain to them what it means.

From there, try again the next day or when your child next brushes their teeth. Give them another plaque-disclosing tablet and see if there's a difference. You may be surprised to discover that your child is already being more mindful about taking care of their teeth.

If you're still dissatisfied, then try a simple exercise with your child. In this case, you brush your teeth together and then you both use the tablets. You can make a game out of it: the one with less visible plaque after chewing a tablet gets a reward of some kind.

Keep in mind that taking your child to a family dentist on a regular basis should be a part of this attempt to get them to brush better. It will help them to maintain good clean teeth, but since tartar can also stick to plaque-disclosing tablets, your child may be doing their very best and still come up with the tablet sticking to their teeth because of old tartar. Since nobody can remove tartar on their own, this may be unfair to your child, so consider having their teeth cleaned before you start this routine.