Encourage your child’s good oral habits with regular visits to Ladysmith Smiles and these engaging educational apps.
Encouraging good oral health habits when your children are young can mean better long-term oral hygiene and saving on hundreds of dollars in dental bills. At Ladysmith Smiles in Ladysmith BC, we take pride in helping establish your child’s love for taking care of their teeth through regular checkups and cleanings and outside the office, with helpful tips on our social media platforms and blog.
If you find your child’s oral health routine is lacking a focus on proper brushing technique, flossing and just overall understanding of the importance of oral hygiene, it’s time to get digital. While we love traditional methods of encouraging our kids with brushing such as singing songs, it is time to start speaking their language. Here are our top five favourite apps for better oral health:
My Bright Smile
My Bright Smile by Colgate features five educational dental games and a two-minute brush timer (which has a tune that is sure to have your child humming along). Each dental game reinforces one important oral care lesson. One of our favourite games in this app is called Visit the Dental Office as it familiarizes kids with the tools we use here in the office to help take care of their teeth. We find having a general idea of what the dentist and dental hygienists will do during their next visit reduces nerves around dental appointments. The other games include Brush The Teeth, Fun With Floss, Picture This, and Swipe the Sweets. This award-winning app is free and available on Apple Apps, here.
Disney Magic Timer
As true Disney fans, this is probably our favourite app out of the five. The Disney Magic Timer app by Oral-B encourages your child to brush for the full recommended two minutes with the help of their favourite Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters. As your child brushes, a picture of their favourite characters will be revealed. Once they’ve successfully completed their brushing, that picture becomes a sticker for their achievements folder. The app features a calendar to help track their brushing progress. The app is available for free download in the App Store and on Google Play, but you have to have a Crest or Oral-B product to unlock it.
Brush Up
Have your kids master their brushing technique right along Budd of the National Academy of Medicine App, Brush Up. Kids can see themselves in the magic mirror to fully help them mimic the proper brushing technique the main character, Budd, is demonstrating. Budd encourages and rewards kids with digital prizes along the way. The app is free in the App Store and on Google Play, though it offers in-app purchases.
Toothsavers
Who doesn’t love a good fairytale story with a mission to save the kingdom from cavities. Your only weapon? A Toothbrush. Your kiddos will be looking forward to brushing their teeth twice a day just so they can continue the adventure of protecting the kingdom with Toothy and the Toothsavers before everyone is overrun by cavities. This two-minute, twice a day game builds up to the chance to defeat the evil sorceress herself after 30 days of consistent brushing. Two little ones at home? This app also has a two-player mode that can make this mission for clean pearly whites, a family affair. Parents, you can monitor the whole family’s brushing progress on a progress calendar and even share your kids’ milestones directly to Facebook. Download Toothsavers in the App Store here.
My Virtual Tooth
While taking care of a dog or a cat tamagotchi style is fun, it’s even more fun to take care of a cute tooth named Dee. Through this interactive app, your child will learn how to keep Dee healthy and what they need to do for their own beautiful smile simultaneously. Along with learning how to brush Dee and feed Dee the healthy foods they need, kids can also use the toothbrush timing feature to put what they learn into action. Plus, kids can record words and have them repeated in a funny voice to make My Virtual Tooth a memorable experience. My Virtual Tooth is available for free in the App Store and on Google Play, with some in-app purchases.
Have you and your kids tried out any of our favourite oral hygiene apps for kids? Do you have any other app recommendations? Let us know by emailing our team at info@ladysmithsmiles.com or at your next appointment at Ladysmith Smiles. To book your next pediatric dental appointment in Ladysmith, BC, click here.