After reading about all the preschoolers that require general anesthesia to remove cavities, we got super serious about dental care, and Charlie usually brushes his teeth three times a day. We’ve tried a number of infant and toddler dental products over the years, and I’ve shared my favorites below as well as some tips on how to get your reluctant brusher’s teeth clean!


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1) Brush Your Teeth Please – When it comes to trying to teach your child something new or get them to do something they don’t want to do, books are always an excellent place to start. Luckily both Charlie and Olive have always loved brushing their teeth so we haven’t had to convince them to do it, but I think reading books about brushing are a great way to encourage reluctant brushers to get excited. This is a pop-up book so it’s entertaining for even the youngest little ones.

2) Toothbrush holders – We have these suction toothbrush holders for each of our toothbrushes stuck to our bathroom window. At first I got them because toilet water sprays up in the air every time you flush and I wanted to keep the toothbrushes clean. But it turned out that Charlie loved taking out his toothbrush and putting it back in, which got him more excited about brushing his teeth. Coincidentally our toothbrush colors coincide with the holders, and Charlie reminds us if we put the wrong toothbrush in the wrong holder. Anything to get your child more excited about brushing their teeth is a win in my book.

3) Tooth Tissues – While Olive loves brushing her teeth, she doesn’t do a very good job, and she doesn’t let me brush her teeth either. I’m going to pick up these tooth tissues (I tried them when Charlie was a baby) because it’s easier to clean your reluctant brusher’s teeth with a tissue than with a toothbrush — Olive just bites down on the toothbrush and I can’t move it around her mouth. These wipes are nonbleached, made with bamboo, and contain xylitol, which is a naturally occurring sweetener and cavity-fighting agent.

4) Xlear Spry Kids’ Tooth Gel with Xylitol – We’ve tried several different fluoride-free toothpastes including Earth’s Best Toddler Toothpaste and Tom’s of Maine Fluoride-Free, but this one is my favorite because it’s made with Xylitol. Children shouldn’t use fluoridated toothpaste until they’re old enough to spit it out, so Charlie started when he turned 2. Olive uses this Xylitol toothpaste, but Charlie uses it occasionally too, especially when we’re running late — we can just give him this toothpaste and he doesn’t have to stand at the sink and rinse like he does with his fluoridated toothpaste.  Xylitol protects your teeth and increases tooth remineralization, while fluoride promotes tooth repair after damage has already been done, so they work very well together at fighting cavities. You can read more about that in this study published the Journal of Oral Science.

5) Tom’s of Maine Outrageous Mango Mango – This is Charlie’s daily fluoridated toothpaste. He didn’t like the strawberry flavor because he said it was too spicy.

6) Green Sprouts Silicon Toothbrush – We’ve also tried the Baby Buddy Toothbrush, but this was Charlie and Olive’s favorite first toothbrush.

7) Radius Totz Toothbrush – We previously used Oral B Winnie the Pooh toothbrushes which worked perfectly fine, but I prefer these Totz toothbrushes because they have a big head which makes for easier cleaning. Both Charlie and Olive got all their teeth pretty young, so Olive has been using this toothbrush for several months now (she’s 18 months now).

The best tip I can give for reluctant brushers is to let them see you brushing your teeth every day, and hopefully they’ll want to imitate you!

What are your favorite dental care products for infants and toddlers? Do you have any tips and tricks for reluctant brushers?