Support your child's tooth care
Not ratedgeneral health evidence
Keep brushing and dental advice doable, especially with attention or sensory needs.
Start with the time you have
1 minute
Name the part of brushing your child finds hardest, so you can ask for help with it.
5 minutes
Check the NHS advice for your child's age and identify one brushing step to support.
15 minutes
Prepare a question for the dentist about brushing difficulties and check when the next visit is due.
How sure the science is
Not rated, general health evidence
- No pooled trials to rate.
- This rests on single studies, expert consensus or clinical practice.
- Measured in the general population.
- ADHD trials of this do not exist or are too small.
General NHS dental-prevention guidance plus ADHD observational reviews with mixed findings; no GRADE rating for the action.
The number, drawn
Why it matters
- Brushing with fluoride toothpaste helps prevent decay in children generally.
- Reviews of ADHD and dental health suggest more difficulties, though a newer review found the size and consistency of the link uncertain.
- Practical help with brushing and dental advice for your child are sensible prevention, not a treatment for ADHD.
How to do it
- Help your child brush twice daily with fluoride toothpaste suited to their age, including before bed.
- Follow the NHS guide for their age on supervision and technique.
- Ask the dentist when the next check is due, and explain if your child finds brushing hard to tolerate.
Ask a dentist about pain, persistent bleeding, injury or difficulty brushing; supervision and toothpaste use should suit your child's age.
Putting it into practice
In real life
- Help with the bedtime brush when your child cannot manage it independently.
- Tell the dentist if the toothpaste sensation or brushing process makes tooth care difficult.
Watch out for
- Common mistakeExpecting your child to brush alone too early may leave teeth unclean. Keep helping or supervising.
- Common mistakeRinsing right after brushing washes the fluoride away. Follow the NHS advice on spitting for your child's age.
Trusted guides
How we rated it
- Evidence grade
- B Trials in ADHD with low certainty, or strong general health evidence with a sourced reason it matters more with ADHD.
- The number
- Brush children's teeth at least 2 times daily (NHS, 2025)
- Benefit
- 65/100 An editorial priority for the general list, weighted by certainty. It does not predict what will happen for you.
- Effort
- Some effort
Sources
- Tier 1 guidelineChildren's teethNHS, 2025
- Tier 2 studyDental Caries in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Meta-AnalysisCaries Research, 2022
- Tier 2 studyAttention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and oral health in children and adolescents: a systematic reviewEuropean Archives of Paediatric Dentistry, 2025
- General information about ADHD, not a diagnosis or an individual treatment plan.
- Tailoring changes the order of suggestions; it does not assess you.
- Medication decisions belong with you and a qualified clinician.