I am a bad mom. I ignored my inner voice that said my children needed to be seen by a dentist to make sure they have healthy teeth and listened to a friend (also a dentist) who told me that they did not need to see the dentist until about five years old. “Teach them how to floss and you are fine.”
Wrong.
Very wrong.
At one year old, you should take your child to see a pediatric dentist. Not a regular dentist. Ask me how I know and I will tell you about the $3,000 dentist bill I am paying this month. And that is AFTER insurance. AND, they said we have “really good dental insurance. Probably the BEST.”
So, after three VERY expensive trips to see the pediatric dentist, I sat down with my children for a healthy teeth unit study to protect this costly investment my husband and I had placed in their mouths.
For this lesson, you will need:
- egg carton
- hair brush
- electric screwdriver
- black permanent marker
- yarn
- scraps of tissue paper
- piece of aluminum foil
- Awesome Anatomy: Teeth Worksheet (Education.com)
- Anatomy of a Tooth Worksheet (Download here – based on Anatomy of a Tooth from WebMD)
We started our healthy teeth unit study with the worksheets.
The children learned the names for the different teeth and their functions. Even though the worksheet did not detail instructions, I asked the children to color the teeth, matching the name to the letter.
We also labeled a diagram of a tooth I made to learn what was on the inside.
Next, I showed them an egg carton that I had prepared with tissue paper to represent apple pieces and a black mark to be a cavity.
I told the children that we were pretending the egg carton was inside a mouth and then said, “I have a friend named Carl who just ate an apple. He knows that he should brush his teeth after every meal.” Using the hairbrush, we pretended that Carl was brushing his teeth. When we finished, my oldest son immediately said, “He didn’t get all of it!”
Excellent point.
I explained that even though we might think our teeth are clean, we cannot get in between our teeth with the toothbrush. That is where the dental floss comes in handy. Using a piece of yarn, I showed the children how you move down one side of the tooth and up the other. They took turns practicing with the egg carton.
Once our friend “Carl” had clean teeth, the children asked if the black spot was a cavity. “Indeed,” I told them, “I think it is! Carl should go to the dentist like you did.”
So, our poor friend “Carl” had his tooth drilled (with parental supervision) using an electric screwdriver and then received a silver filling (aluminum foil.)
Once our experiment with “Carl” was over, it was time to practice what we learned by heading to the bathroom. The children brushed, flossed, and used mouthwash.
Now, even on the evenings when I do not realize they have not brushed and flossed, they remind me. I love that!
Additional Resources for a Healthy Teeth Unit Study
Books
How Many Teeth? (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)
Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World
Why Do My Teeth Fall Out? (My Body Does Strange Stuff! (Gareth Stevens))
Activities
- Apple Cavity from Mama Bee from the Hive
- Apple Teeth Craft from Surviving a Teacher’s Salary
- Happy and Sad Tooth Collage from A Teaching Mommy
- Paint a Tooth Clean from Rockabye Butterfly
- Practice Flossing with Legos from Journey to Josie
- Toothbrush Book and Craft from Kid’s Soup
- Tooth Taxis from East Coast Mommy Blog
- What do drinks do to your teeth from 1st Grade with Miss Snowden
Learning Resources Crosssection Tooth Model
Toysmith Twinkle Toof Tooth, 3.5″
I Can Do It Reward Chart: Brush My Teeth
- Brushed Teeth Punch Cards from She’s Kinda Crafty
- Color a Toothbrush from Eberhart’s Explorers
- Dental Literary Centers from Doodle Bugs
- Dental Themed Worksheets for 1st and 2nd Grade from The Happy Housewife
- Dentist Coloring Page from Girls Coloring
- Dentist Unit from A Teaching Mommy
- Healthy Tooth Maze from Kid’s Soup
- Hidden Dental Words from Dentist 4 Kids
- Hidden Toothbrushes from Dentist 4 Kids
- Unscramble the Dental Words from Dentist 4 Kids
- Cavity Risk Quiz from My Smile Kids
- Plaque Attack from Plackers
- Save the Tooth from Healthy Teeth
- To Tell the Tooth from Mouth Healthy Kids
- Tooth Games from Colgate
Genius!! I am sharing this on my Facebook group page! My kids are going to have fun with this one!!
I would be sure to teach your kids to avoid silver fillings that are full of mercury & other toxins. If they need to have their teeth filed be sure it is done with composite filling. Or research how to heal cavities naturally. It is sad to see people teaching their kids that filling your mouth with toxic poison is okay.
Hi, I´d add that after eating fruits you have to wait at least 30 min. before you brush, because the fruit acid softens the dental enamal and you would damage it if you brush immediately after enjoying an apple etc.
Dental Hygiene is a tough one, and I had a lot of discussions in my family because we brushed after the kids in the evening until we were sure they had the fine motor skills to handle it by themselves. But we were rewarded and I´m really thankful that they have a healthy denture without fillings etc.
You´re idea with the egg karton is genius – I will use it for the little ones I have in day care :o) Thank you!
This is really an awesome idea! I’m sure the example of removing a cavity works wonders in helping kids gain a desire to brush and floss. When I was a kid, it wasn’t a big priority for me to brush and floss every day. I had to gain these habits in my teenage years after having multiple fillings. Do you have anymore ideas like this? Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad I could provide you with a resource to pass along to children who need to know the extreme possibilities. I know my children have regretted not taking better care of their teeth, and with the thousands I have paid to repair the damage, I wish I had taught them this lesson sooner.
Interesting method. Although flossing is more so for under the gum line, which you can’t do with that carton teaching method.
Exactly, therefore it is not a concept easily taught to children but this worked very well.
I really like how you demonstrated cleaning our teeth with simple supplies! I think this is a great idea and it’s an easy way to show our kids what they dentist will help us with. We will need to try this soon because we need to visit the dentist in a few weeks. Thanks for the idea!
Being a dentist I of course love all these great craft activities that can foster a love for oral health and calm nerves when visiting the dentist. Thanks for all the great ideas!
This seems like a really good activity to teach kids about the importance of flossing! I really like the idea of showing them how a cavity is handled. Maybe it will scare them into brushing their teeth!
This post teaches children how to take care of their teeth to prevent plaque and cavities. It’s important for kids to learn how to brush and floss their teeth. A healthy mouth is a happy mouth. Very knowledgeable post.
Such great post! I have a one-year-old and she, surprisingly, loves brushing her teeth but I did not know some of the other things like goldfish and raisins aren’t good for her teeth.
This would be a good place to continue a discussion for kids to understand nutrition and teeth in general, maybe in consecutive post.
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Awesome content and activity that kids will surely love at the same time learning about dental care needs.