By Dr Elizabeth Crake
Most parents already know the headline advice: brush twice a day, cut down on sugar, lead by example. The harder part is making those things actually happen, twice a day, every day, in a busy Wimbledon household where mornings are a scramble for the school run and evenings disappear into homework and activities. Good oral health isn't really about knowing the rules, it's about building systems that run on their own. Here are the practical tools, routines and small swaps that turn brushing from a daily battle into something that just happens.
Start with the two non-negotiables
Before any chart or gadget, anchor everything to the two things the NHS is clear about: brush twice a day for about two minutes with a fluoride toothpaste, and make the last brush of the day the one right before bed, with nothing to eat or drink afterwards but water. Everything else in this article exists to make those two habits effortless and repeatable. If a tool helps your family hit those two targets without a fight, it's working.
Tool 1: A brushing chart and a small reward
Habits form when a behaviour becomes visible, repeatable and rewarded, which is exactly what a sticker chart does. Print or draw a simple grid: morning and evening columns, a row for each day of the week. A sticker goes in each square once brushing is done.
- Keep rewards small and frequent. A sticker each time, then a tiny treat (a comic, a trip to the Common, choosing the bedtime story) at the end of a full week works better than one big distant prize.
- Praise the routine, not the teeth. "You did your two minutes without being asked" reinforces the habit you actually want.
- Phase it out gently. Once brushing is automatic, usually after a few weeks, let the chart quietly retire. The aim is for the habit to outlast the reward.
Tool 2: Timers and apps to fix the two minutes
Two minutes feels like forever to a child and, honestly, most adults stop short too. The fix is to make the time concrete rather than guessed:
- A two-minute song played from your phone, when it ends, brushing ends. Children quickly learn the routine by heart.
- A sand timer stuck to the bathroom mirror. Cheap, screen-free and oddly satisfying for younger children.
- A free brushing app such as the Brush DJ app or a child-friendly equivalent, which times the brush and prompts which part of the mouth to clean. Useful for tweens who respond better to a screen than to a parent's reminder.
- A toothbrush with a built-in timer, many electric brushes pulse every 30 seconds to move to the next quadrant.
Wimbledon's hard water is a hidden factor in your bathroom. Living across SW19 and Merton, we're in a hard-water area, which means more limescale and quicker staining on brushes and cups, and a tendency to skip rinsing aids. Swap toothbrush heads every three months (limescale clings to worn bristles), and remember that after brushing it's best to spit, not rinse, so the fluoride keeps working. A family trip across Wimbledon Common is also a perfectly good "end-of-week" reward for a full brushing chart.
Tool 3: A morning and evening routine that runs itself
The strongest habits are stacked onto things you already do without thinking. Attach brushing to an existing anchor so it never gets forgotten in the rush:
- Morning: brush straight after breakfast and getting dressed, before shoes and bags, same order, every day, so it becomes part of leaving the house.
- Evening: make the bedtime brush the gateway to story time. No brush, no story. Within a week it stops being a negotiation.
- One bathroom, together: brushing as a family for the first few weeks lets you supervise, model good technique and turn it into a shared moment rather than a chore.
Consistency matters more than perfection. A routine done in the same order at roughly the same time is what wires the habit in.
Give your family's routine a professional MOT
A check-up and a hygiene visit with Dr Elizabeth Crake and the team at The Dental Lounges Wimbledon is the perfect chance to fine-tune technique and catch problems early.
Book an appointment Family & general dentistryTool 4: Smart kitchen swaps
What's in the cupboard shapes habits as much as what's in the bathroom. The biggest wins come from cutting the frequency of sugar, not just the amount, every sugary snack restarts an acid attack on the enamel. A few easy swaps that work in a real family kitchen:
- Drinks: water or plain milk as the default; keep juice and squash to mealtimes only, in a cup rather than a sipping bottle.
- Snacks: cheese, plain yoghurt, breadsticks, vegetable sticks or fruit instead of biscuits, dried fruit and fruit "winders" (which are sticky and stay on the teeth).
- Treats: keep them for after a meal rather than as standalone grazing, so there are fewer separate acid attacks across the day.
- Read the label: many "healthy" cereal bars and flavoured yoghurts are surprisingly high in sugar.
Tool 5: Age-appropriate independence
Independence is the goal, but it's earned gradually. Children generally need help or close supervision with brushing until at least age seven, because little hands simply can't reach every surface. A "you first, then me" approach builds confidence while you still do the thorough top-up brush. Use the table below as a rough guide.
| Age | Habit to build | How to make it stick |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 (first teeth) | Twice-daily brushing by a parent with a smear of fluoride toothpaste | Brush at the same two moments daily; keep it playful and brief |
| 3–6 | Sitting still for a full two-minute brush; spit, don't rinse | Sticker chart + a two-minute song; you finish the brush off |
| 7–10 | Brushing independently morning and night | Child brushes first, parent does a quick top-up and a weekly check |
| 11–14 | Owning the routine, including flossing/interdental brushes | A brushing app or timer they control; link it to phone/screen time |
| 15+ | Full self-management and regular check-ups | Let them book and attend appointments; model it as normal self-care |
As children move toward independence, a regular hygienist visit (children's hygiene is £80 at our practice) adds a professional layer of cleaning and gives teenagers a neutral voice on technique that isn't a parent.
When to bring in the professionals
Home systems do most of the heavy lifting, but they work best alongside regular check-ups. The NHS recommends an interval set by your dentist, for many children that's every six to twelve months depending on their risk of decay. These visits catch early problems painlessly and keep technique on track. Our family and general dentistry appointments (child check-ups from £55, new patient check-ups from £60) are designed to fit around the school day, and you're always welcome to bring the brushing chart along so we can cheer them on. Whenever you're ready, our team in Wimbledon Village is here to help your whole family build habits that last.
Frequently asked questions
The NHS recommends brushing twice a day for about two minutes with a fluoride toothpaste, last thing at night and on one other occasion. A two-minute song, a sand timer or a brushing app makes the time concrete, which really helps younger children who find two minutes hard to judge.
Children usually need help or supervision until they are at least seven, because younger hands lack the dexterity to clean every surface. A good approach is to let your child have a go first to build independence, then you do a thorough "top-up" brush afterwards.
For many families, yes. A simple sticker or reward chart turns brushing into a visible, repeatable routine, which is exactly how habits form. Keep rewards small and consistent, praise the routine rather than the teeth, and phase the chart out gently once brushing becomes automatic.
