Dental Health in Preschool

Dental Health

Once a year I ask a Dental Hygienist if she will come to the preschool to teach the kids about their teeth and how to take care of them. You wouldn't think teeth are that exciting, but the kids always love this. They get to practice brushing on the big model she brings.  

She has 2 books that are excellent for teaching about going to the dentist. It explains what the dentist does and it shows the equipment so the kids aren't so scared when they get there. I love them every time she brings them, I will have to get them for our library.

Just Going to the Dentist (Little Critter)

Show Me Your Smile! A Visit to the Dentist (Dora the Explorer)

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I hard boiled eggs the night before and soaked them in grape juice over night. It gave them this black look to them. It was perfect to teach about sugar left on our teeth all night. Then the kids got to practice brushing the eggs in small circles like we were just taught. 

This was after the kids were done brushing. 

It always surprises me how long some of the kids talk about this. I had one boy talk about it all year long to his mom, and this year my son kept talking about those sugar bugs and how he wanted to brush to get them off. You never know what will make an impression and what won't. This is one that always makes an impact with the kids. 

Dental Dice Game

Since the kids are learning about Dental Health, I thought it would be great to play a counting dice game as well. I saw the idea over here. 

I made a quick drawing on white paper of a long oval with a line through the middle and added a tongue for good measure. I was going off of memory of a picture I spotted on Pinterest. I drew a bunch of circles for teeth and then handed the kids a cup of marshmallows (I used what I had and what fit easily, you can use anything you have on hand). 

Maybe if I planned better, I would have the correct number of teeth and healthy snacks but I just wing it most of the time. I was more concerned with counting and one to one correspondence with the dots on the dice to the object provided (Marshmallows). 

The kids loved this. They did this on their own instead of against each other. Once they put all the teeth on, then they rolled again to take them off, and then they got to eat them at the end.