How Often You Should be Replacing Your Child’s Toothbrush

Brushing your teeth at least twice a day for two minutes at a time is perhaps the most important step in maintaining good at-home oral hygiene. Brushing your teeth removes plaque and bacteria buildup, which can weaken the tooth enamel and cause tooth decay and dental cavities if not brushed away. 

Here at Little Rockies Pediatric Dentistry, we recommend that your child brush his or her teeth at least twice a day with fluoride toothpaste. He or she should also be flossing daily to clean the surfaces of the teeth that a toothbrush can’t reach. As effective at this routine is, an old toothbrush can compromise the whole thing! 

When and Why to Change Your Child’s Toothbrush 

Toothbrushes should be changed out every 3-4 months. This may seem too frequent to some people, but there are a few reasons why this change needs to happen so often: 

• As your child brushes his or her teeth, the bacteria on the teeth are transferred to the toothbrush. Brushing twice a day means that your child’s brush will quickly become full of bacteria and germs. 
• Germs and bacteria that accumulate on the bristles of your child’s toothbrush don’t just disappear the next time your child brushes his or her teeth. This means that the old germs can be transferred back onto the teeth the next time you brush! 
• After a couple of months of accumulating these bacteria and germs, your child’s brush may actually be damaging his or her teeth instead of properly cleaning them. This is about the same time that the bristles begin to fray, decreasing the effectiveness of your child’s toothbrush. 
• Lastly, we recommend replacing your child toothbrush after he or she recovers from an illness such as strep throat, the flu, bronchitis, or any other contagious illness. This will avoid re-infecting your child with the illness. 

While at-home oral hygiene is an important part of achieving and maintaining healthy teeth for your child, he or she should also be visiting our office every six months for a pediatric dental cleaning and exam. To make an appointment here at Little Rockies Pediatric Dentistry, please call our Parker, Colorado child’s dental office today.