Toothbrush Torture

We all know that brushing your teeth is uber important… ok I use the word ‘all’ loosely. There is a small boy in my house that may not exactly understand why tooth brushing is important.  Actually, I’m pretty positive that he doesn’t.  We have been brushing Nate’s teeth for about a year and a half now and there hasn’t been much improvement in technique.   Nate’s understanding of what brushing your teeth is, is this…  mom or dad putting some glob of goo on a toothbrush and sticking it in his mouth while saying something to the effect of ‘touch every tooth with it’ over and over again. 

He lets us brush his teeth for about 3 seconds before running off with it in his mouth.  Oh wait!  He does come back.  His favorite thing is to then stick the brush under running water again and again and again while chewing on it.  These toothbrushes are destroyed pretty quickly.  They look like the dog got it (sorry Kona, I mean Mocha got it).  But no, it is just Nate torturing the toothbrush. 

I’ve let this ‘technique’ continue because I actually read that toddlers chewing on the brush can actually clean the teeth (what made me feel better is that I’m not the only one with a chewer).  And I’d be lying if I didn’t mention that toddlers can be quite opinionated and he is pretty sure he doesn’t want any help haha!  Needless to say, we probably should have a refresher course in teeth maintenance here soon before I spend too much on replacement brushes.  I bet there is a book for that huh?