To add a fun, silly aspect to a dental health lesson, find a puppet that has a set of teeth. If you can’t find one, you can glue several small white dice inside a puppet’s mouth to act as teeth. Use the puppet to talk about brushing, flossing, dental care and cavities. When you demonstrate proper brushing technique, open the puppet's mouth wide with the hand that’s inside the puppet. Use the other hand to brush the outside, inside and top surfaces of the teeth, as well as the top of the tongue. The puppet should also pretend to spit the toothpaste out and swish with water before spitting that out. Make a big finish with a happy, clean teeth dance.
Plaque tablets, also called disclosing tablets, consist of vegetable dye. When these are chewed, they turn the teeth red wherever there’s any plaque build-up. Have your preschoolers brush their teeth as they normally would. After they have brushed, give each a plaque tablet and instruct them to chew on them for about 30 seconds and then swish it around their mouths before spitting it out. The kids should then look in the mirror at the red areas. Explain that the red areas are the areas that they missed during brushing. Also, add that if they continue to miss areas like that, the plaque and germs can cause cavities to form on their teeth. To obtain enough toothbrushes for this lesson, explain to your neighborhood dentist about your intended lesson, and he may give you a bunch of free toothbrushes or dental care packets.
You can demonstrate cavities and fillings with this activity. Cut a new household sponge or sponge cake into the shape of a tooth. Explain to the preschoolers that sugary and sticky foods stick to teeth. If the food residue isn't washed off the teeth at least twice a day, bacteria that love the sugar can eat away at the teeth, causing holes. Tell them that these holes are called cavities. Use your fingers to rip a chunk or two out of the sponge or cake to act as the cavity. Dip the chunk you removed into a paint or colored water and place it back on the sponge or cake. This is to represent a cavity being filled by the dentist. Explain that fillings are how the dentist helps repair the damaged tooth.
The topic of flossing needs to be included in the discussion about cavities. Cut several egg cartons into three-egg sections and give each preschooler a 1-foot section of dental floss or string. Explain to the kids that food residue also gets between the teeth and brushing alone doesn’t get rid of it. Flossing the food particles out from between the teeth before brushing can also help prevent cavities. Demonstrate how to use the dental floss or string to floss between the egg carton teeth and have each child try it. Then explain that they can use dental floss for their own teeth. Pre-made flossers for kids also work.