Electric toothbrushes for children: What should parents pay attention to

If the reputation is preceded, they would maintain our teeth more thoroughly than is possible with an ordinary manual toothbrush. For more than three decades, the buzzing and vibrating brushes are spreading with the interchangeable heads in German bathing rooms. The “normal” toothbrush is also exchanging more and more children for a Bluetooth-capable electrical counterpart. But how sensible and healthy is it to push electrical toothbrushes into the hand in daycare age? Dr. Thomas Breyer, practicing dentist and president of the Saxony State Dental Association, emphasized in an interview with the starthat the parents play the most important role in their children’s first cleaning years. Colorful also change that And funny smartphone apps nothing.

Dr. Breyer, in almost every German bathroom there is at least one electric toothbrush. Many smaller children now also clean electrically. What do you basically think of it?
Unfortunately, today today’s children are developing more than that things are going forward. Our basic tenor is therefore that they clean with a manual toothbrush in the first years to get a feeling for what happens in their mouth. In four -year -old or younger children there is otherwise a risk that they put the toothbrush in their mouths and then find it funny and the device grumbles a bit. The children start dreaming quickly, play in front of them and the cleaning effect goes around zero. According to the motto: once left, once right, done. To make matters worse, many parents also believe that the electric toothbrush will already brush their teeth and that they themselves have nothing to do with the matter.

From what age are children able to brush their teeth alone and consistently?
Up to around the age of six, children are unable to brush all of their teeth properly. No matter which toothbrush. Until then, the parents have to clean up. Of course, this can also be done with electric toothbrushes. However, we think it makes sense to have children cleaned with a manual toothbrush until they are in terms of motor to reach every place in the mouth accordingly. After everything we know, this is between the ages of five and seven. Then you can switch to the electric toothbrush.

That is the theory. What are your practical experience from everyday life?
The children’s reality of life actually looks different. The parents often clean with an electric toothbrush. This means that the children are wondering why this should be right for adults – but not for them. From our point of view, you have to find a compromise in the family. It basically does not matter whether this is a sound toothbrush or an oscillating head if you choose the electrical variant. They hardly differ in the cleaning effect. In our experience, noise toothbrushes are a little forward. Here the fluoride is better distributed in the interdental spaces. For this, the models with oscillating heads are less abrasive. As I said, the most important thing is: cleaning up to the sixth year of life.

What is the most important tip that you give parents on the way of brushing your children’s teeth?
The belief that the electric toothbrush releases from control and cleaning up should quickly get out of the parents’ minds. We observe that the electrical brush is easier to dream than with the hand toothbrush. If you dream with the hand toothbrush while cleaning, it just stops. The electrical wobbles further, even if the child bores in the nose. That is why control and cleaning are so important.

Even children’s versions of electric toothbrushes monitor the pressure when cleaning. How sensible does this function make from your point of view?
The pressure control makes sense. However, more for adults, because many clean their tooth necks during dental care. The electric brush has a real advantage over the mechanical. Especially after stressful days there is a risk that you ruin your teeth with manual toothbrushes. This prevents pressure control in electric toothbrushes. Parents don’t have to worry because children usually lack the strength to exert too much pressure.