Toothbrushing Songs for Kids

What are the songs for?

The songs are brushing timers. Your child brushes along while a calm voice says which teeth come next. In the video, a dirty smile gets cleaner step by step until it sparkles at the end. The teeth on screen get clean exactly when the voice names that area, because the timing of the video comes from the song itself.

Why a voice? When I looked into whether cleanup songs really help kids focus, the most interesting study was about a routine very much like brushing: preschoolers learning to wash their hands with a song. The spoken instructions did more than the melody (Kramer, 1978). So the music sets the pace and the mood, and the voice says what to do.

Two versions

I recommend the 2-minute version. The brushing part is exactly the 2 minutes dentists recommend, the countdown on screen is exact, and a chime marks the start and the end. The 3-minute version is one continuous song to brush along to.

Each version comes as three songs: Little Stars, Moonlight, and Rainbow. All three have the same calm folk-pop style at 96 BPM, so you can switch between them without changing the routine.

What the songs tell kids to do

The brushing advice built into the songs follows the dental guidelines discussed further down:

• Two minutes of brushing, with an exact countdown and chimes (NHS).
• A pea-sized amount of toothpaste (NHS). For children under 3, use less than the song says: just a smear.
• Clean the tongue gently and briefly, once or twice from back to front. More is not needed (see tongue cleaning below).
• Spit out, don’t rinse or gargle, so the fluoride keeps working (NHS), (Delivering Better Oral Health). The songs say and sing this explicitly.

How to use them

1. Start the video before brushing. The get-ready part gives time to wet the brush and put on the toothpaste.
2. Brush along with the voice. The video shows which teeth are being cleaned, so kids can follow by watching and by listening.
3. Trust the countdown. The 2:00 countdown and the chimes are exact. The sung “Two minutes – well done!” lands within a few seconds of the chime, because the music model can’t place it to the second.
4. Switch on subtitles if your child wants to sing along. The lyrics are also in the video description.
5. Make it a routine. Same time, same place, every evening and every morning. And for younger children: let them brush along, then check and brush again yourself (see how long parents should help).

Watch and brush along

All playlists:

• English: 2 minutes · 3 minutes
• German: 2 minutes · 3 minutes
• Dutch: 2 minutes · 3 minutes

Music, vocals, and pictures were made with AI tools (ACE-Step for the music, FLUX for the pictures). The lyrics were written for these songs, and I checked the brushing advice against the sources below. The videos are marked as made for kids on YouTube, so they show no comments and no personalized ads.

Why 2 minutes?

The NHS, the UK’s dental toolkit Delivering Better Oral Health, and the Dutch Ivoren Kruis all recommend brushing for about 2 minutes, twice a day (NHS).

Time does make a difference. In a study with 47 adults, brushing for 2 minutes removed 26% more plaque than brushing for 45 seconds, and 3 minutes removed 55% more than 30 seconds (Gallagher et al., 2009).

But time is not everything. In the latest German Oral Health Study, people of all ages, including 12-year-olds, still had plaque on about half of the gumline after brushing as well as they could (Deinzer et al., 2025). Two minutes of brushing the same front teeth doesn’t help much. That is why the songs move through the mouth part by part.

Do songs, timers, and apps help?

The NHS suggests using an egg timer to make brushing fun and reach the 2 minutes. What does the research say?

• A brushing app for 5-year-olds. In a randomized trial with 49 children, an app that showed and rewarded correct brushing reduced plaque considerably after 12 weeks (Alkilzy et al., 2019). A small, single study, and the authors themselves mention a possible novelty effect.
• A musical toothbrush. In 120 children, a musical toothbrush removed more plaque than a normal brush after 30 and 60 days, but after 90 days there was no difference anymore (Ganesh et al., 2012).
• A music app. 88% of users of the Brush DJ app said it made them brush longer (Underwood et al., 2015). That is a user survey, not a measurement.

So songs and timers are a harmless and plausible way to reach the 2 minutes, but the evidence is small, and the effect fades when the novelty wears off. What lasts is the routine. That is another reason why the songs say what to do instead of just playing music.

Why twice a day, and why before bed?

Children who brush less than twice a day get more cavities. A review of 33 studies found 45% higher odds of new cavities compared with brushing at least twice a day, and the effect was even larger in baby teeth (Kumar et al., 2016).

The brush before bed is the most important one. During sleep, we produce less saliva, so sugar and acid stay on the teeth longer. The UK and Dutch guidelines therefore say: brush last thing at night, and after that, nothing to eat or drink except water (Delivering Better Oral Health), (Ivoren Kruis).

How much toothpaste?

Fluoride toothpaste is the most important ingredient. The amount depends on the age, and the recommendations differ a bit between countries:

Put the toothpaste on the brush yourself for younger children, so they don’t use too much or eat it.

Spit, rinse, or gargle?

Spit, don’t rinse. That is the advice of the NHS (“if you rinse, the fluoride won’t work as well”), of the UK dental toolkit (with a strong recommendation), and of the Dutch Ivoren Kruis. The reason: after brushing, a bit of fluoride stays in the mouth and keeps protecting the teeth.

The effect is measurable. Rinsing once with water after brushing lowered the fluoride in the saliva, and rinsing twice lowered it four- to five-fold. Eating right after brushing lowered it even more (Sjögren & Birkhed, 1994). In a 3-year study with 2,621 adolescents, how they rinsed after brushing was linked to how many new cavities they got (Chestnutt et al., 1998). Experts admit that high-quality trials are missing, but all international guidelines agree (Pitts et al., 2012).

And gargling? Gargling with water right after brushing is just another form of rinsing, so better not. At other times of the day, gargling is fine. In a Japanese trial with 387 adults, gargling with water three times a day reduced colds by about a third (Satomura et al., 2005). That is about colds in adults, though, not about teeth.

Mouthwash is not recommended for children under 6, because they might swallow it (ADA). For older children who need extra protection, the UK guideline recommends a fluoride mouthwash at a different time of day than brushing, for example after lunch.

Should kids clean their tongue?

The tongue, especially at the back, is covered with a coating of bacteria that causes most bad breath. In adults, cleaning the tongue in addition to brushing reduces bad-breath compounds and tongue coating (Van der Sleen et al., 2010), (Kuo et al., 2013). Tongue scrapers did slightly better than a toothbrush (Outhouse et al., 2006). However, the effect is short-lived, and the most recent Cochrane review rates the evidence as very low certainty (Kumbargere Nagraj et al., 2019).

In children, there is just one trial. In 208 children with bad breath, adding tongue scraping to brushing and flossing gave no lasting improvement (Jamali et al., 2016).

So tongue cleaning is a good habit for fresh breath, but not a must for healthy teeth. For kids, a few gentle strokes over the tongue with the toothbrush are enough. No pressure, and not too far back, so they don’t gag.

How long should parents help?

Longer than most of us think:

• UK: parents brush until 3, help until 6, and watch from 7 (NHS).
• Europe: the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry recommends helping or supervising until at least 7 (Toumba et al., 2019).
• Netherlands: the Ivoren Kruis advises parents to brush or re-brush their child’s teeth in the evening throughout primary school, so until about 12.

Children simply lack the dexterity to reach every tooth for a long time. A good routine: the child brushes along with the song, and you check and brush again afterwards.

Electric or manual?

Both work. In a Cochrane review of 56 trials, electric toothbrushes removed 11% more plaque after 1 to 3 months and 21% more after more than 3 months, and reduced gum inflammation slightly (Yaacob et al., 2014). In children, the advantage is small (Dağdeviren et al., 2025). The NHS says it doesn’t matter, as long as the teeth get brushed properly.

Technique, brush, and floss

• Technique: no brushing technique has been shown to be clearly better than another (Rajwani et al., 2020). Small circles are easy for kids. More important is a fixed order, so no tooth is forgotten, and paying attention to the gumline.
• Brush: a small head and soft bristles. Replace it every 3 to 4 months, or sooner if the bristles are frayed (ADA).
• Floss: in adults, flossing in addition to brushing may slightly reduce gum inflammation, but the evidence is weak (Worthington et al., 2019). For children, there are no good studies, and the UK guideline doesn’t routinely recommend it. Ask your dentist.

In short

Two minutes, twice a day, with the right amount of fluoride toothpaste. Brush before bed, then nothing but water. Spit, don’t rinse or gargle. A gentle sweep over the tongue is a nice extra. And help your child for longer than feels necessary. A song can’t do all of that, but it can make the 2 minutes pass, and it can tell your child which teeth come next.

More songs

Looking for songs for the other daily battle? Have a look at my tidy-up timer songs.

• Toothbrushing Songs