I have all these memories of watching kids getting their teeth brushed from when I was growing up, either my brothers or kids in other families that we knew.

Most of the memories went like this: kid lying on back screaming, parent trying to hold him or her down, while simultaneously forcibly opening the child's jaw and counting to ten while scrubbing each surface of every tooth.

This usually does not end well, and the child does more for his vocal cords and other muscles then is achieved for his teeth. The parents grit their teeth and end up with anger and sore jaws of their own


I was thinking about this while Mark and I were brushing our teeth tonight. Mark is thirteen-and-a-half months.


Humans have a strong instinct to imitate. Without thinking about it, when it came time for Mark to start cleaning teeth, i.e. when his first tooth broke through, we simply handed him a toothbrush and let him watch us brush our teeth.

If you think about it, the solace that one person wants while brushing their teeth is equivalent to another person brushing their teeth. Teeth brushing is a communal experience. No one wants to brush their teeth alone, except perhaps, in a few dark-and-medatative moods.

Mark now will brush his teeth for an indefinite period, brush more intensely when I brush more intensely, rinse his toothbrush in water every few seconds, and attempt to spit into the sink.

Sometimes he'll try to brush the drain at the bottom of the sink. But all in all, it's a lot better than physical restraint and sore jaws all around.