Motivating Your Kids To Brush Their Teeth

How can I get my kids to brush their teeth? It’s one of those things that kids typically quickly do because “they have to” or they “accidentally” forget to do it. At least, that’s the case in my house. If only they could brush their teeth faithfully and correctly. I know that they are not always remembering to brush their teeth and I KNOW that they probably are not brushing for the full recommended 2 minutes. That being said, I also don’t want to brush their teeth for them or continually monitor them to make sure they doing it right all the time.

Playbrush offers a great solution to motivate kids to brush their teeth at a reasonable price. The Playbrush is an electronic device that attaches to pretty much any manual toothbrush and turns it into a game controller that you can use with any mobile device or tablet.

Motivation to Brush Their Teeth

There are currently two game apps (Utoothia and Utoothia Sky) that you can download from the Apple App store or from Google Play to use with the Playbrush. The app developers say that they plan to release new games every 3 to 6 months.  Kids love games and these games encourage kids to brush their teeth.

Playbrush teaches brushing behavior through the game – awarding you when you have accomplished different tasks like brushing twice a day, brushing at the right speed and brushing certain hard to reach spots. Once you get all the rewards for a certain level, you move on to a new level in a new land. As you move through the lands, the challenges get progressively harder, encouraging your child to become a more accurate and consistent brusher.

My six year old cracks me up. He keeps asking if he can brush his teeth again because he wants to get more rewards so he can move to the next level. Sure! You can brush your teeth again!  See?  Playbrush provides motivation for kids to brush their teeth!

Setting the Playbrush up is simple. When you first take it out of the box, you need to charge it with the included USB cord. Once you download one of the apps (currently Utoothia or Utoothia Sky), you can set up each user. We have 4 users on the app and there is room to add two more. Once the Playbrush is charged, you insert your manual toothbrush into the device, open the app, shake the brush to turn it on, pick which user is brushing and play the game.

The great part about the Playbrush is that you only need one for the entire family. (Or, one for each bathroom.) Each person just inserts their own toothbrush into the Playbrush, chooses their person in the app and they are set. The other nice thing is that you don’t need to invest in pricey toothbrush heads as the they wear out. Since you are using your own manual brush, there is no additional cost beyond the purchase of the Playbrush.

The Story

The Tooth Fairy reigns over Utoothia thanks to her 12 magical teeth. However, these have been stolen by the evil Ogre and his army of Crobies. The Tooth Fairy has asked YOU to win back the teeth and bring back peace to Utoothia. The players have to travel through 12 counties to collect the 12 teeth. Each country of Utoothia represents a new level and you have to achieve various tasks and rewards to win back the teeth.

The app takes you through a two minute adventure where Crobies are coming at you from all directions. As you brush different areas in your mouth, you are able to attack and kill the Crobies.

Once you are done brushing it will show you your stats – Overall Performance, Inner Top, Inner Bottom, Outer Left and Outer Right. You will know immediately if you are consistently missing an area in your mouth and can work harder the next time to get that part of your mouth better.

Pros

• Easy Set-Up
• The whole family can use one device – don’t have to purchase a device for each kid
• Seems extremely durable
• Only needs to be charged every 3 or 4 weeks
• Fun way to encourage brushing consistently and accurately

Cons

• It only comes in pink and blue – if you have a family of boys and girls, a more generic color might be nice
• Sometimes it is hard to figure out where you need to be brushing in order to kill the Crobies on the app – it doesn’t always coincide with where the toothbrush is in your mouth. This can get frustrating for the little ones
• It takes a little bit longer than just regular brushing because you have to set up the app

Playbrush is available for purchase in pink or blue on their website for $59 plus shipping. Or, you can purchase a set of two for $99. They also have an option for $69 that includes a holder that mounts to the wall with suction cups for your smartphone. You can also purchase it through Amazon for $54 plus $4.99 for shipping.

A Mom’s Perspective

My kids brush their teeth more consistently and for longer by using Playbrush. They want to beat each other to the next level and want to have the highest points. If it is making brushing their teeth more fun and something that they are more willing to do, I am a happy mom.

I like that you do not need to purchase a device for each kid. I did find that my 6 year-old was the most interested for the long haul. And, he probably has the most to learn when it comes to brushing so that’s fine by me. 

It is great that they plan to continue to add new games (a new one every 3 to 6 months.) Once the kids have gone through all the levels of the game, they can move on to a new one. The app is free and available through the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Sometimes all we need is a little technology boost to motivate our kids to brush their teeth and Playbrush is a great hit with kids.

*I was given a Playbrush for my honest review. All opinions are my own.