Why and How to Praise Your Child for Brushing Their Teeth

Praise is a powerful way to train children. When it is delivered in the right way, it can help kids to grow in self-confidence and develop good habits. Praise can be useful in many different areas of life, including dental health! In fact, research suggests that it may be very valuable for encouraging children to brush their teeth. Exactly why and how should you praise your child for brushing their teeth? This blog post provides helpful tips.

Why Is Praise So Important?

A few years ago, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study to determine how parental praise affected children’s persistence in brushing their teeth. The families who participated in the study came from a range of ethnicities, backgrounds, and income levels. The parents recorded nightly videos of their child’s toothbrushing, so researchers could get a realistic look at the type of praise delivered.

Interestingly, the study found that children displayed more persistence in brushing when they received more praise and fewer instructions on how to brush. A lot of the praise was general, with parents saying things along the lines of “nice job,” “very good,” or similar phrases. There was also some process praise, which involved specific commendation on the way the brushing was done. Person praise (“good girl”) was used less often.

How to Praise Your Child for Brushing Their Teeth

The study mentioned above had its limitations, but it seems clear that praising your child for good habits and actions is a worthwhile habit! Here are some tips that may help the praise you deliver be as effective as possible:

• Make sure the praise is sincere. Admittedly, your child may have some room for improvement in their brushing habits, but you can still try to find some aspect of their efforts that is worthy of praise. Remember, most kids can sense insincerity, and they tend to react negatively to it.
• Be consistent. Children thrive when they receive adequate praise, so do not hesitate to repeatedly commend them for the same things. Of course, balance is important. Overdoing it on praise might cause your encouragement to lose some of its impact.
• Avoid comparisons. Comparing your child to their siblings or other peers, even if the comparison is positive, could give them the impression that their behavior should be evaluated based on other people’s efforts rather than their own.
• Praise the effort and the process. Even if your child is still very young and cannot yet thoroughly brush on their own, you can still praise them for what they do. For example, you can say something simple like, “Good job on remembering to brush the backs of your teeth!”
• Ask your child’s dentist for help. Pediatric dentists work with all sorts of kids. They might be able to give tips on how you can effectively encourage your little one to adopt good brushing habits.

Never underestimate the power of praise! Use it liberally and sincerely so your child can establish good oral care habits that last a lifetime.

Meet the Practice

At Kids Dentist in Grayslake, our team features four highly skilled pediatric dentists. We love working with kids, and we are happy to help parents and guardians find ways to instill good habits in their young ones. If you would like our advice on how you can encourage your kids to brush their teeth or stick to other positive oral health practices, contact our office at 847-223-1400.