Keeping Our Teeth Clean

In their topic “Who Am I?”, the FS2 children have been thinking about different factors that support their health and wellbeing. Keeping their teeth healthy was the focus of one of their lessons last week. The very first thing they did was to think of questions they would like to ask a dentist. This is what they wanted to know:

Why do you pull out teeth? Why are they called milk teeth? How should we brush our teeth? When should we brush our teeth? Will you give me money if you pull my teeth out? Have you been to a dentist before? Can you tell how old I am if you look at my teeth? Where do you work? Do you give sweets? Do you work in a hospital? How many teeth should we have? Does a dentist clean the germs away? How can I not be afraid of the dentist? Why do our teeth fall out? What can we do if our tooth is broken? What are the sharp teeth for? When will our teeth fall out?

Doctor Reed, a dentist in London, (and Mrs Walby’s father) sent the children a little video answering some of their questions which they just loved and watched over and over. His video ended with this message in answer to the question: How can I not be afraid of the dentist? “Don’t be afraid of the dentist, brush your teeth, eat less sugar, and you never know, smile a big smile and you might get a little sticker!”

Friday was quite an exciting day because the children got to bring their toothbrushes and toothpaste to school. They just about managed to keep them clean and safe in ziplock bags until after lunch. They watched a video to find out what to do and what not to do while brushing their teeth. They had some big model teeth in class to practise on and then everyone brushed their teeth, trying to keep brushing for 2 minutes. Afterwards, back in class, feeling lovely and fresh, they remembered the different steps they had learnt and put these in the right order.

And they all smiled big smiles and got a little sticker in their planners. We hope they will keep up their teeth cleaning routines at home.