When Should My Child Start Flossing?

When Should My Child Start Flossing?

In addition to brushing, a pediatric dentist will tell you that flossing is also important for your child’s oral health. However, some parents are unsure when they should introduce flossing into their child’s oral hygiene routine at-home. Our team at Kids Dental Group is here to help you understand the best age to introduce flossing and how to keep cavities away! 

Why Floss? 

If you neglect flossing, it means you are missing cleaning a good amount of your child’s tooth surface. This can lead to bad breath and the potential for developing cavities too. Brushing daily isn’t enough, since a toothbrush alone can’t reach certain crevices in your child’s mouth. Brushing and flossing in tandem with one another can help your child to have healthy, cavity-free teeth! 

The Right Age

It’s best to start flossing early on, typically when two teeth start to touch. This is usually around the age of two to three years old. We recommend parents to floss for their child as it requires dexterity they haven’t yet built. Parents can use this time to teach and guide their child how to floss properly until they are around the ages of eight to ten. From there, they can start to floss independently! It’s important to build this habit early on, so they have it for life! 

Teaching To Floss 

Teach your child to loop their floss along each tooth’s sides and gently move it up and down. You want them to clean spots their toothbrush missed, like in between their teeth. However, you want to make sure they are not pulling the floss back and forth aggressively, as it can irritate the gum line.

Check-In At Kids Dental Group

Let’s make sure your child’s oral health is on the right track and they understand how to brush and floss properly. Kids Dental Group staff is trained to teach kids and help parents – after all, we’re all on the same team! Check-ups for kids should be done bi-annually. Let’s book a visit this summer at one of our locations in Richmond Hill, Markham or Stouffville. You can reach any one of our clinics on our website

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