Teaching Heart's Dental Health Unit / Theme
For Pre K, first, second, and third grades!!!
You have to brush your teeth to have a pretty smile and a healthy body. 
It is important to teach your students the importance of dental hygiene. 
Here are some things I have done and some ideas I have heard about.

Updated Feb. 2009

Watch Out!  Acid Attack

Why do I have to brush my teeth is a common question asked by kids.  And of course we explain the reason why over and over again.  Next time show your students why they have to brushing is so important.    1.)  Show students a hard boiled egg. 2.)  Ask them, "Why do you think there is a shell around the egg." 3.)  Let the students respond.  Make sure they come to the conclusion that the hard shell protects the egg. 4.)  Now give them you best smile and say, "See my teeth?  Just like the egg my teeth are protected.  Enamel protects my teeth the same way the  shell protects what is inside the egg." 5.)  Pour two cups of vinegar into a large jar. 6.)  Have a student place the egg in the jar. 7.)  Replace the lid on the jar and place the jar in  a safe place for student observation. 8.)  Ask the students to predict what they think will happen to the egg. 9.)  Write the students response on a large piece of paper that will be hung in your room. 10.) When 2 days have passed, slowly and gently remove the egg from the jar.   11.) Allow each student to look at the egg and compare their predictions with the results.   Conclusion: Tell the class that the vinegar caused the shell of the egg to break down and become soft, the same way that tooth enamel is damaged by acid and bacteria in the mouth.  Brushing every day is the only way to keep this from happening. Hand out a large tooth for the children to write a sentence and draw a picture to illustrate why teeth brushing is important.   See ya, I am off to brush my teeth.

Mouth Model Three Dimensional Dentures  

A neat way to teach students about the placement of their teeth is to have them make a model.  They will really enjoy this activity.   You need for each student; 2, 2"x5" strips of card stock 12 navy beans 8 lima beans   1.) After reviewing the different kinds of teeth, have the students make a the model. 2.)  Have the students color the strips pink. 3.)  Now she glues the lima beans (molars) and the navy beans (incisors and canine teeth) along the bottom of each strip in the following order.                         two lima beans - six navy beans - two lima beans 4.)  When the glue has dried have the students label the teeth as follows;                         2 molars - 1 canine - 2 incisors - 1 canine - 2 molars 5.)  Have the students then punch a hole above the molars at the end of both strips.  Holding the strips so the teeth touch. 6.)  Thread a length a yarn through the holes on one side of the mouth model and tie the top jar to the lower jaw; repeat this on the other side. 7.)  Now you have two sets of teeth.   NOTE:  Make sure you try this once before showing the class how to do it!

I Know My Mouth

  This activity will help your students understand the placement and uses of their teeth.   You need to Label four sheet of construction paper incisors. Two sheets canines Four sheets molars   1.) After you have discussed some facts about teeth, randomly distribute the sheets of labeled paper to ten students. 2.) Tell the students they must work as a team to organize themselves into the correct order.  The students at the desk will be their judges.             second molar - first molar - canine - lateral - central - central - lateral - canine - first molar - second molar. 3.)  Now that they are in order ask them to name and describe the purpose of their tooth. 4.)  Collect the cards and have ten new students do the same.

    Teeth Terms  

You will need to; Make a large tooth pattern Make a tooth chart to hang in the room with the followings teeth terms   Root - The part that hold the tooth to the bone. Pulp - The innermost layer of the tooth. Nerves - They enter the tooth through the pulp. Enamel - A hard substance the covers the tooth and lies over the dentin. Dentin - A yellow substance, harder than bone, that makes up most of the tooth. Crown - The part of the tooth that you can see. Cementum - Lies over the dentin of the tooth's root.   1.) Hand out a tooth pattern to each student. 2.) Have the students glue their pattern to construction paper. 3.)  Next, have them draw, color, and label each part of the tooth. 4.) For an added touch have the students glue pieces of floss in the pulp cavity to represent nerves.  5.)  Have everyone draw a pink gum line.   IDEA:  Mount these on the bulletin board with the title "TEETHY TERMS

CAVITY CAPER

YOU WILL NEED:

An apple

A stick

THIS IS HOW IT GOES:

1. Show the children the apple. Tell them to pretend that it is a tooth.

2. Poke a hole into the apple. Explain to the children that holes, or cavities, can form in our teeth when we don&rsquot brush, floss, eat healthy foods, and visit the dentist regularly. The hole you just put in the apple is the cavity.

3. Set the "tooth" in the science center. Have the children record what happens during the week by writing down or drawing observations.

4. At the end of the week, discuss the class&rsquo findings. Ask questions like would you want your tooth to look like this? How are some ways we can keep from getting cavities? When you get a cavity, what should you do?

  FLOSSY, FLOSSY, FLOSSY

THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED:

Yarn for every two children

Dental floss for each child

THIS IS HOW IT WORKS:

1. Explain to children that flossing teeth is just as important as brushing them because floss gets all of the things brushing misses.

2. Have each pair of students face each other. One student is the "teeth" and the other child is the flosser. Have the teeth person hold his/her hand spread open and up. Show the flosser how to twist the yarn around each finger for a good grip. The flosser then takes the yarn and flosses between the fingers in an up and down motion scraping the sides between the fingers. When they are done, have them switch jobs.

3. Hand out floss to each child. Have them practice flossing their teeth. See if anything is on the floss.

TEAR PAPER TEETH

YOU WILL NEED:

4-5 Mouth patterns: using posterboard or half of a file folder, create a pattern of a mouth that should look like a large half circle)

Pink construction paper

White construction paper

Glue

Scissors

THIS IS HOW IT GOES:

1. Tell children that everyone&rsquos mouth looks a little different. Today, they will create their own mouthful of teeth.

2. Show children how to trace the mouth pattern onto the pink paper and cut out; tear small white pieces of paper in shape of teeth; glue the teeth onto the edges of the mouth.

3. Allow class to do this. Have them work in 4-5 groups (depending on the number of patterns). Some can tear out teeth while others trace the mouth pattern.

For a Bulletin Board Idea:

Take a close-up of each students mouth(smile). Have each student cut out their mouth from the picture and glue it onto a cutout of a tooth. Have them write a sentence under their smile and on the tooth that describes something they do to keep their teeth healthy. (I brush my teeth after every meal. I drink milk. I use mouthwash. I eat a healthy diet...) After these are completed staple them to a Bulletin Board entitle; look who is smiling!!! Can people guess the smile they see?

FROM OUR CDROM's
Click here to learn more!

Fact Sentence Strips (Available on CD#3) - Have your students read the strips and copy them in a journal.

When I introduce a unit, I always start with a book and then show vocab cards. We discuss each card and then the card becomes part of our word wall. Each unit requires lots of writing and it helps if you have words your students will use in their writing (AVAILABLE ON CD #3)

Have your students write about the tooth fairy and what they think she does with all of thosese teeth. Also, have them describe her and draw a picture of her. Here is a sheet I use to complete this activity. The students enjoy this and I love to read the sheets (AVAILABLE ON CD#3)