Cultivating Healthy Oral Care Habits in the Early Years: Imagine!

I was so very fortunate to be born to parents who enjoyed food! Our mom did the vast majority of meal preparation and cooking. However, both my folks had an interest in food, were able in the kitchen and meals were tasty, varied in presentation and incorporated fresh ingredients. Here, my focus is not my own good fortune, but rather on the takeaway message gifted to me by my parents.

Food was not presented as functional. It was tasty. I sincerely doubt that there were threats of adverse health outcomes IF …  and certainly, fear was not the vehicle used to cultivate healthy eating habits.

What was the vehicle? We were a family of five with varied palates, our own favorite flavors, aromas and a very broad exposure to tastes and textures. And yet, somehow, our mom was able to account for these personal preferences, while at the same time keeping meals interesting for us all. Oh sure, there were the odd dishes that one of us didn’t like, but there were no punishments for trying a dish and not liking it.

Food was INTERESTING, it held our attention. VARIETY preempted boredom and routine. It was TASTE, TEXTURE, AROMA and APPEARANCE that brought us to the table. Each of these elements, separately or perhaps together kept us at the table, likely prompting requests for seconds.

I think too that meals were … well, maybe not “fun” but so very often PLEASURABLE. That’s not to say that my folks avoided teaching us table manners; they certainly did not. And yes, there were repercussions for poor table manners. Nonetheless, both myself and my siblings emerged with a love of food, real food and, thankfully, adventurous palates. I believe that we all eat daily, and well. We are indeed so very fortunate.

Let’s turn our attention to teaching oral care habits.

Is oral care INTERESTING? Is it VARIED? As unique individuals, do we have input into TASTE, TEXTURE, AROMA and APPEARANCE? Or is oral care boring, not terribly tasty, and served alongside an overemphasis on method and adverse health outcomes? Is, “one flavor fits all” a household motto? Just how are we teaching oral care habits to the young? Or indeed to those well into their reproductive years and beyond? Frankly? I think it’s time that we shift our focus.

If we teach to cultivate joy, regularity will follow. If we teach with initial emphases on technique, caring for the mouth may well become another chore, another task to add to our ever growing “too do lists”. Even young people have “too do lists”. The upshot? There is unlikely to be one single outcome. More likely, there will be many an outcome, from cavitation and tooth loss to systemic disease. Perhaps most worrying, we will not know or care for our mouths.

Our teeth might last a lifetime if we ate well, paid attention to oral care and if we didn’t carry stress in our mouths as we grow, as we develop habits of clenching or grinding.

The point of my starting with food is simple. If we cultivate joy, it’s likely that many things will fall into place, will become less of a chore and more of a choice.

I cannot say this often enough. In an attempt to cultivate daily oral care habits, I see a great deal of attention on form and commercial products, with far less attention being offered to personal preference, fun and joy.

Imagine what might ensue if oral care was tasty, not always the same, perhaps even less costly and oh yes, fun! If I was INTERESTED, what might ensue? I might even explore customizing my oral care routine and herbs offer us endless opportunities to do just this.

Yet, it’s often the case that a single tube of toothpaste is offered to all. Less often are there two tubes; one for younger mouths and their developing tastebuds, another for adults. So what can we do?

Very likely for less cost, certainly for very little cost we can care for our mouths in ways that are enjoyable and healthy ~ healthy both for ourselves and the planet. For example, we can work with natural ingredients, like herbs. We can focus on avoiding synthetic ingredients that when pasted together are quite costly, and not simply from a monetary perspective.

Creating our own oral care products takes us into another realm, and makes it easy to move away from warnings. Personally, even as an adult, I find it hugely off-putting to see a commercial label reminding me to call the Poison Control Center if a product is swallowed in excess or by a person of a younger age. By relying on healthy oral care products, we move closer towards offering ease and joy when cultivating a habit to last a lifetime.

Taking time to better understand the mouth, how to support our oral health and oral care ingredients could well mean that we can live well without alcohol, animal-derived ingredients, artificial sweeteners, fluoride, microbeads, mineral oil, parabens, peg/pg, polyethylene, polypropylene, saccharin, sorbitol, synthetic coloring agents, synthetic preservatives, synthetic surfactants, toxic fragrance chemicals, triclosan and …

Imagine! What if we made a commitment to slowly, with increasing attention and focus, move away from commonplace synthetic ingredients and return to natural, herbal, oral care approaches when it comes to caring for our mouths? What if we were to enjoy brushing, or gargling, tongue scraping or oil pulling? What if these were not seen as chores? What if we had an amazing oral care toolkit that might, yes just might last a lifetime?

Imagine!