My third grader has pretty yellow teeth. I try to get him to brush them, but he never wants to. I don’t want the other kids to make fun of him for yellow teeth, but my dentist thinks I’m ridiculous for even suggesting it and absolutely refuses.
Melissa – North Carolina
Melissa,
First, I want to assure you that most children don’t pay much attention fo shades of teeth in a judgmental way. And many third grade boys struggle with not only oral hygiene, but hygiene in general. It’s like trying to give a cat a bath.
I will say I agree with your dentist about giving a third grader teeth whitening. It’s not only not necessary, but it’s a challenging procedure to sit through and he’d have to be very still and keep a tray with the whitening gel in his mouth. He’s very likely to balk about that.
I’d focus on making his oral hygiene the priority. Whitening is great for dealing with years of natural staining. It’s not intended to cover up neglect. What we don’t want to give him is the idea that there is an easy way out. He’ll have much bigger problems than yellow teeth if his habits don’t improve.
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