February is Dental Health Month

     My first graders have been learning all about one of their absolute favorite subjects - their TEETH! Every February, the American Dental Association (ADA) sponsors National Children’s Dental Health Month to raise awareness about the importance of good dental hygiene. My students can talk to me for hours not only about the wiggly teeth they have & the ones they've already lost but they will go into great detail about exactly how every tooth came out -- tooooooooo cute!!!! At their young age, losing teeth is such a big & exciting part of their lives. If you ever need a conversation starter with a 6 or 7 year old - just ask about their teeth!
       Dental Health is one of my favorite subjects to teach - the kids have so many questions- how many teeth do I have? How many teeth will I have when I'm a grown up? Why haven't I lost any teeth yet? Before we even start the lessons, we do a round table discussion where everyone can tell the class a tooth story & ask some questions.  I use my Healthy Teeth packet which has worksheets,  a dental x-ray, cool facts,teeth coloring book and teeth activities. Here are the clay teeth my little first graders made, they came out so cute!

A worksheet (click here) we use to discuss healthy foods & healthy teeth:

We do a fun science experiment: soak hard-boiled eggs in soda overnight to stain them brown. We call them "egg teeth" & we test 3 different types of toothpastes on them to see which works best at stain removal. 

My students make their own toothpaste using baking soda, salt and mint extract- experimental purposes only- we have a science lab rule in my classroom - nothing goes in mouths!!  They love being little scientists creating their own toothpaste!

Happy Dental Health Month!