What age did your kids brush their own teeth?

[superfrizbee]

Just curious really as I'm sure my 5 year old would still not do a good enough job to brush her teeth solo.

 

[ClairAye]

Just before turning 5? He brushed his teeth at nursery too so learned quite quickly how to brush properly, however I still supervise and go over if needed.

 

[kirstybumx3]

Rio brushes his own teeth. But occasionally I’ll brush them before or after him on an evening. He seems to do a good job to be honest, he’s always brushed alone though since he was a toddler then I’ve ‘finished’ them off after x

 

[CaptainMummy]

My eldest is almost 7 and I still give hers a quick going over when she is done. It looks like she does a decent job but I'd rather be sure. Says on the toothpaste 'Help your child with brushing until they are at least 7 years old' so when she moans (which she has never really done tbf) I just show her that. My 4yr old does a good job too but I still brush hers afterwards too and will continue to do so for a while yet!

 

[becsboo]

4 sometimes with help

 

[lau86]

My ds1 is 6 and I still brush his. He doesn't mind at all

 

[_Meep_]

Not sure about my sister as she is older and I don't remember, but my mum certainly brushed my brother's and mine until we were about 10! Not because we were incapable in any way (sleepovers at other kids' houses weren't a problem or anything), but merely because she was always going to do a better job until we were old enough to really care about hygiene, cleanliness and keeping our teeth in good shape.

I'll be 30 in 3 days and I've never had a filling or any sort of work done on my teeth, other than getting braces in my 20s purely because one tooth was slightly out of line and I was incredibly vain. My brother is 3 years younger and is the same.

Brush them as long as she will let you!

 

[sevenofnine]

4, but I watch her and coach her occasionally. She usually does pretty good!

 

[Babybump87]

Both my girls have been doing theirs for a while by themselves . DD1 is nearly 5 and DD2 is nearly 2 but very wise and strong willed ! . I do go over their teeth after them mainly because I want to make sure they are defiantly clean although they both do a pretty good job !

 

[blake12336]

My son is nearly five and I let him brush his teeth in the morning and I brush his teeth before bed. We do have a good app though which shows them which section of teeth to brush and how long for etc.

 

[AngelUK]

I still brush my boys' teeth cause when I was little my brother and I brushed our own teeth and did a bad job and had to have fillings. I hope this won't happen to mine!

 

[Zephram]

My DS1 is five in two days and he brushes his own teeth. He has done for about the past year as it became a massive battle of wills where he wanted to do it himself and would pack a massive tantrum if I insisted on doing it. Most of the time he does a really good job. I supervise him doing it as I usually brush his 2 year old brother’s teeth at the same time, so if I see him slacking or skipping an area I tell him to do it again. I probably brush his teeth once a week at this point when he says he’s too tired to do it. He has regular dental check ups and his teeth are perfect.

 

[Natasha2605]

My kids have brushed independently since about age 4. They have dental appointments every six month and both sets of teeth are great so far!

 

[Bevziibubble]

At around 4 years old

 

[pompeyvix]

I tend to encourage her to do her own in the morning and in the evening either I will do it or she will start and I will finish off.

 

[Rags]

When DS was first getting his teeth my dentist advised that I brush them until he is 8 and then supervise him. He's 7 now and although they brushed them at nursery and in P1 & 2 I continue to do them at home.

 

[MindUtopia]

Probably about 3.5, but I still went back and did it again after just to be sure. Now at nearly 5, she does it most times, but sometimes I do give it a once over just to make sure it's done well.

 

[JessyG]

I always brush her teeth. She is 4. She can do it quite well but i either always start it off and she finishes it or i just do it. I didnt realise it was common to let them do it on their own at this age. I reckon ill do/help until she is in school next year for sure if not for another couple of years.

 

[sequeena]

I brush my son's teeth then he goes over it himself. He brushes by himself at school. Our dentist recommends that a parent helps to brush until the child is 8.

 

[Vickie]

We let our DD try brushing herself at 8. She wasn't doing the best job at it and our dentist told us that the dexterity to do a good job at brushing teeth is 10 (we had thought 8 previously as well) and that he still brushes/checks his kids teeth. So we have gone back to brushing/giving her teeth a once over after she brushes. (she did fine with the electric toothbrush but when that went and she went back to manual brushing she wasn't being thorough enough)