Key messages
- Add some fun to your child's brushing routine for motivation.
- Great brushing phone apps include Wiggles Brush, Brush Monster and Colgate Brushing Adventure.
Two minutes does not sound like a long time unless you’re the parent of a young child and you’re trying to get them to brush their teeth! It can help if you mix up their routine with some fun and games, such as:
- let your child choose their toothbrush and toothpaste flavour
- brush to their favourite song
- use a fun phone app.
A dentist and parents favourite apps
I have tried out dozens of Apple apps. Here are a few that you may like to check out!
The top apps:
- are designed to be used during toothbrushing time, not just as a game.
- are free to use, without having to buy a specific product (such as a toothbrush that has Bluetooth), and don’t have disruptive advertising (such as pop-up ads).
- include a timer that goes for at least two minutes.
- give oral hygiene advice that agree with current guidelines.
I did not find a perfect app. But my top three picks are below. There are also other apps that are fun, but they did not score as high based on the oral hygiene advice they included.
Wiggles Brush
This app is a two-minute music video that you can brush along to. The song is catchy, with lyrics that describe brushing round and round. The video is bright and fun and features a diverse range of kids brushing their teeth. You can collect a sticker in the app each time you brush as motivation. However, the song does not remind you where to brush, so you will have to make sure your little one is brushing top and bottom teeth, inside and outside, and left and right!
Brush Monster
This app is the best example of a toothbrushing app using augmented reality (AR) technology. When you set up the app, make sure you choose the “Fone’s Method” of brushing in circles, so the animation matches. Using the device camera, it puts a funny filter over the face and a toothbrush that hovers over the section of your mouth that you are guided to brush. It even shows you how to angle the toothbrush! However, it takes around 3 minutes which is a little longer than usually recommended.
Colgate Brushing Adventure
The main cartoons are a surfer girl and a mouth in the corner of the screen. The mouth highlights the section of your teeth you are being guided to brush. The song is catchy with really good instructions for brushing. However, it spends more time on the front teeth and not as much time on the back teeth.
Summaries of other dental apps
Dr Elice Chen
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