Fun Ways to Teach Kids About Dental Hygiene

Making children excited to learn about dental hygiene can help them form healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Children as young as preschool age can learn about how and why they should properly care for their teeth with twice-daily tooth brushing and daily flossing. Using creative methods and an excited voice to talk about dental hygiene goes a long way toward making the topic interesting for children.

Field Trips

• Children must learn early that regular visits to the dentist are important, but some children are scared of these trips. Teach little ones that the dentist isn’t scary by taking a nonfrightening field trip. Ask your dentist if you can bring kids along while you get a check-up. The children can watch exactly what happens in the dentist chair without needing to open their own mouths, and many dentists will have interesting molds and posters that children might enjoy looking at. If you’re in a classroom, invite a dentist to visit the classroom and show off his tooth molds and tools.

Music

• Teaching children with music may make it easier for them to remember facts. Make up a song about brushing teeth or flossing, and whenever a child goes into the bathroom he’ll be able to sing the song to himself and remember the steps. Write your own song and set it to a familiar tune. For example, write a song set to the music of the “Hokey Pokey” with lyrics such as “You take the toothpaste cap off, you put the toothpaste cap on, you take the toothpaste cap off, and you squeeze paste onto your brush.”

Creativity

• Making artwork about dental hygiene gives each child a chance to show off his knowledge, and you’ll be able to review dental themes anytime using his artwork. Ask him to draw a series of pictures showing the steps to brushing teeth or flossing, or ask him to write a story about what happens at the dentist’s office. He may also enjoy drawing pictures of what he would look like if he didn’t take care of his teeth, as well as a picture of what his teeth will look like if he takes care of them.

Experiments

• Use eggs for an experiment that shows children why dental hygiene is important. Explain that eggs have thin shells, so they’re prone to getting damaged in the same way your teeth can. To demonstrate the power of toothpaste, let an egg soak for five minutes in a cup of toothpaste or fluoride solution. Rinse the egg and place it in a cup of vinegar, and place a second, untreated egg in a second cup of vinegar. Children will be able to see that the unprotected egg breaks apart over time. Another easy option is to soak an egg in cola overnight to show how easily teeth can be turned brown when they’re not brushed frequently.