The school dental check says my son needs to brush better. I'm a dentist

lemon_pebble_5221

Class 3 had a dental check-up camp at school this week. Note came home today: 'Plaque on lower teeth. Please supervise brushing.' I do supervise brushing. Or I thought I did. Turns out he's been running the tap, wetting the brush, eating a little toothpaste for the smell and coming out in under a minute. My partner is enjoying this far too much.

4 comments

  • hazel_gecko_2892

    Ha. The toothpaste-for-the-smell trick is a classic. Did the note come with a score, or just the comment?

    • fern_bottle_4884

      Ours gave a score out of 10 last year. My son got 6 and wanted to know what the class average was before he'd accept it.

  • basil_bottle_6080

    mine used to brush in the shower so nobody could check. he's in middle school now and i think he does it properly. i think.

  • amber_spoon_412

    So the cobbler's children really do go barefoot 🤷 Mine are both under 8 and I have no high ground at all, they negotiate every extra minute at the sink.

    • cedar_hammock_3410

      Has anyone tried a two-minute sand timer? My younger one brushes until the sand runs out and not a second longer, but at least that's two minutes.

  • maple_notebook_4926

    Did the camp tell you how they assessed it? I ask because my daughter's note last year said the same thing, and when I asked, it turned out they had checked everyone at the end of the day, after lunch and snack. I'm not saying your son is innocent. From your description he clearly isn't.

    • lemon_pebble_5221

      Fair point, it was straight after lunch. But I also have a full confession, so I can't really appeal.

    • violet_bottle_7911

      Our school's camp was after lunch too, back when ours were in primary, and half the class came home with the same note. Even so, we found a bone-dry brush at 7.30 one morning that week, so the note wasn't entirely wrong.

    • cinnamon_sandal_9058

      Mine did the wet-brush routine at about the same age. What ended it was nothing clever: he needed a filling a couple of years later and hated the sound of the drill enough to change his habits. Not a method I'd recommend to a dentist, just what happened.

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