By Dr Elizabeth Crake
Life around Wimbledon Park is wonderfully active. With the lake, the watersports centre, the tennis courts and acres of green space on the doorstep, the families we see from this corner of SW19 tend to be on the go. An active, outdoor lifestyle is brilliant for health, and with a few smart habits, just as good for your family's teeth. Here is our practical guide to keeping every smile in the household healthy, from toddlers to teenagers.
Why an active outdoor lifestyle is good for smiles
Time spent running around the park instead of in front of a screen usually means more water and fewer all-day snacks, exactly what teeth need. Frequent grazing and sugary drinks are the biggest drivers of decay, so a lifestyle built around fresh air and proper meals already gives your children a head start. The key is to protect that good work with a steady home routine and regular check-ups.
Building the dentist into family life early also takes the fear out of it. Children who grow up treating a check-up as a normal part of staying healthy are far more relaxed patients, and more likely to keep up the habit as adults. It is the heart of good preventive family dentistry.
Sport, play and protecting young teeth
An active week near Wimbledon Park might mean tennis on the courts, sailing on the lake, scooting along the paths and the inevitable tumbles in between. Most of this carries a low risk of dental injury, but knocks do happen, and a chipped or knocked-out tooth in a child is always worth taking seriously.
- Consider a custom mouthguard for any child playing competitive or contact sport. A guard fitted to your child's mouth absorbs impact far better than a shop-bought one and is comfortable enough that they will actually wear it.
- Know what to do if a tooth is knocked out. For an adult (permanent) tooth, keep it moist, ideally in milk or in the cheek, and call us straight away. Never scrub it or push a baby tooth back.
- Keep water, not squash, in the sports bottle, sipping sugary or acidic drinks all afternoon bathes teeth in sugar and acid for hours.
- Rinse with water after fruit or energy snacks when brushing is not possible.
If an accident does happen, our emergency dental service is only a short hop up the hill in Wimbledon Village.
Wimbledon's water is hard. The chalky, mineral-rich water across Merton and SW19 leaves more limescale on the kettle, and tends to encourage tartar and surface staining on teeth. That is one reason we put extra emphasis on regular hygiene visits for local families. After a busy afternoon at the park, a quick water bottle in the bag beats a sugary squash every time.
Tooth-friendly habits for busy family days
You do not need a complicated routine, just a consistent one. The NHS advises brushing twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, including last thing at night, and spitting rather than rinsing so the fluoride keeps working. For children, supervise brushing until around the age of seven. A few small habits make a big difference between visits:
- Brush for two minutes, twice a day, make the bedtime brush non-negotiable.
- Keep sugary food and drink to mealtimes rather than spreading it across the day.
- Choose water or plain milk as the everyday drink for children.
- Start flossing or using interdental brushes as teeth begin to touch.
A simple family dental routine
Here is how the building blocks fit together across different ages, a handy reference for the fridge door.
| Age group | At home | With us |
|---|---|---|
| Toddlers (1–3) | Brush twice daily with a smear of fluoride toothpaste; water and milk only | First visit by their first birthday, then as advised |
| Children (4–11) | Supervised brushing to age 7; sweets at mealtimes only | Regular check-ups; fluoride varnish as advised |
| Teens (12–17) | Independent brushing and flossing; mouthguard for sport | Check-ups plus hygiene; orthodontic review if needed |
| Adults | Twice-daily brushing, daily cleaning between teeth | Check-up and hygiene at your agreed interval |
Recall intervals are set individually, see the FAQ below for how often each member of your family is likely to be seen.
Register your family at our Wimbledon Village practice
Gentle, unhurried care for every age with Dr Elizabeth Crake and our team, just up the hill from Wimbledon Park, with appointments six days a week.
Book an appointment Explore family dentistryWhy regular hygiene visits matter here
Because of the hard water locally, even diligent brushers can build up tartar and pick up surface staining over time. A professional hygienist clean removes what a toothbrush cannot reach and is one of the best ways to keep gums healthy and breath fresh. Our standard hygiene clean is £90, a premium Airflow stain-removal clean is £120, and children's hygiene is £80. Pairing a clean with your check-up keeps the whole family on track in a single trip.
Easy access from Wimbledon Park
One of the simplest ways to keep up with family dental care is choosing a practice that is genuinely easy to reach. Our home in Wimbledon Village is a short drive or bus ride up the hill from the Wimbledon Park area, with Wimbledon Park station and the District line close by. We offer appointments six days a week and will happily arrange back-to-back family slots so you make just one trip. A new patient examination includes X-rays and an oral cancer screening; contact us for current new-patient fees. Returning-patient check-ups are £80 and children's check-ups £55–£60.
Frequently asked questions
For tennis and watersports the risk is lower than in contact sports, but a custom-fitted mouthguard is still worth considering for any child who plays competitively or is prone to falls. A properly fitted guard absorbs impact far better than a boil-and-bite version from a shop and stays comfortably in place, so your child is more likely to wear it.
NICE guidance recommends an interval set by your dentist based on individual risk, anywhere from 3 to 24 months. In practice many healthy adults are seen every 6 to 12 months, while children and higher-risk patients are often seen more frequently. We will agree a recall interval that suits each member of your family at their appointment.
Very easy. We are at 92 High Street in Wimbledon Village, a short drive or bus ride up the hill from the Wimbledon Park area, with the District line and Wimbledon Park station nearby. We offer appointments six days a week and try to keep families together with back-to-back slots to save a second trip.
