During the holiday season, you can't keep kids away from every candy cane and gingerbread cookie they encounter. However, you can make children smile by stuffing their stockings and piling their present stacks with fun, pro-dental gifts. Here are six excellent kids' gifts to share.
1. Yummy Toothpaste
Kids expect to receive candy for the holidays. Children of all ages look forward to the sweet tastes of chocolate candy, vanilla frosting, and other sweet treats. But candy and cookies are sugary treats that lead to tooth decay and cavities.
Indulge a child's love of treats by finding great-flavored toothpaste to wrap up for stocking stuffers and party favors. Children often develop a new motivation to brush their teeth after experiencing the delicious tastes and fun colors of kids' flavored toothpastes.
Whether your kids love berry, grape, or bubblegum flavors, there's a toothpaste they'll think is delicious. Although one major toothpaste maker stopped making their chocolate-flavored toothpaste, you can still find toothpastes made with cocoa, wasabi, and other strange flavors for adventurous kids and teens.
Choose a kids' toothpaste that's approved by the American Dental Association. These flavored toothpastes include tooth-protecting fluoride as one of the ingredients.
2. Electric Toothbrush
Spark a new interest in dental care with a gift of a child-friendly electric toothbrush. Kids who hate to brush may change their minds after using fun automatic toothbrushes.
The movement of the brush head on an electric toothbrush helps remove plaque from teeth. Kids who don't have good toothbrushing skills benefit from the vigorous cleaning that electric toothbrushes provide.
Choose from electric toothbrushes featuring the following designs:
- Superheroes
- Movie themes
- Cartoon characters
- Animals
- Video game characters
Your child's dentist can recommend the best electric toothbrush brands for your child's age and developmental stage. Purchase toothbrushes with softer bristles for the youngest children. Remember to pick up extra brush heads. Having extras on hand makes it easy to change out the electric toothbrush heads every three months.
3. Healthy Treats
Fill the treat bowl and stockings with healthy snacks for holiday munching. Tangerines, oranges, and other sweet citrus fruits are fragrant and healthy stocking stuffers.
Nuts and whole-grain pretzels are available in single-serve packaging for stockings, or you can pour them in bowls for tasty, non-sugary refreshments. Snack-size packages of dehydrated fruits and baked veggie slices are flavorful and healthy gifts to tuck into kids' gift baskets and stockings.
4. Travel-Size Dental Kits
If your child frequently travels, goes camping, sleeps over at friends' houses, or spends time between two homes, a travel dental kit is a practical holiday gift. Kids' dental kits are available for all ages.
Most kits feature a small pouch and travel-size dental accessories. As with kids' electric toothbrushes, the kits come in many beloved character designs. If you don't find the right travel kit for your child, purchase a separate kids' toiletry bag and assemble a kit yourself.
Fill the toiletry bag with the following items:
- Kid-size toothbrush
- Flavored dental floss
- Kids' toothpaste
- Colorful kids' dental flossers
- Any orthodontic supplies your child uses
Model good dental hygiene habits when you travel and camp with your kids. Assemble or purchase your own dental travel kit, and encourage kids to brush twice a day with you, even if you're on vacation.
5. Toothy Toys
Let kids play dentist with their own set of toy dentists' tools. Small sets feature dental implements made of plastic for pretend filling and cleaning of doll and teddy bear teeth. Larger sets have kid-size toy drills, stethoscopes, and dentists' coats.
Several children's games challenge kids to remove teeth from human or animal patients. Or give a set of toy fake teeth that your child can use to practice brushing and flossing. Numerous versions of teaching teeth are available for dental-centered fun.
6. Tooth Stories
Give children dental-related books, videos, and CDs that teach good oral hygiene. Children's books and other media present toothbrushing, healthy eating, and cavity prevention in non-threatening, amusing ways.
Books and media about visiting the dentist help prepare kids who are going to the dentist for the first time. Videos and CDs feature songs that help kids remember the rules about proper brushing and flossing after meals.
Through books, videos, and music, kids learn about the mysteries of their teeth. They learn how cavities form and why their dentist does certain things. They learn the importance of lifelong dental care.
Kids who are interested in history may enjoy books about early dental care and the development of modern dentistry. Older children who dream of medical or dental careers will appreciate biographies of the pioneers in dental sciences.
Animal-loving kids adore books about animal teeth. Kids who are future survivalists and adventurers love books about wilderness tooth care and dental first aid.
Schedule a holiday season dental checkup for your child in Edina, Minnetonka, or Burnsville, Minnesota, by contacting Dentistry for Children & Adolescents today. We provide calm, kind, expert dental care for all kids, including our young patients with special needs.