Brushing Teeth: Visual Steps

A printable visual sequence that helps move the tooth-brushing routine out of a child’s head and onto the wall.

Knowing all the steps and being able to carry them out are not always the same thing.

Kabbo knew what to do, but holding the whole sequence in his head made tooth brushing a daily struggle for us. So we sat down together and turned the routine into a set of steps he could see.

We put the guide on the wall in front of the bathroom sink. Sometimes he chooses steps in a different order, and sometimes he follows them chronologically. Either way, his teeth are taken care of—and he has one less thing overwhelming him.

Printable brushing-teeth guide with ten illustrated steps showing how to brush the front, sides, inside surfaces, and outside surfaces of the teeth.
Our ten-step visual tooth-brushing guide. Select the image to open the full-size printable.

How we use it

The guide is a support, not another rule to get perfectly right. Kabbo can look at it, choose a step, and keep going without needing to remember the entire routine at once. The order can be flexible; what matters in our home is that the routine becomes manageable.

You are welcome to download it, print it, and place it where your child brushes their teeth.

A note for parents

This is a visual aid that works for our family, not individual dental advice. Children have different support and supervision needs, so adapt the routine and follow the guidance of your child’s dentist.