Many children's books are available that focus on dental health. Examples include "The Tooth Book" by Theo Lesieg, Joseph Mathieu, and Dr. Seuss or "Make Your Way for Tooth Decay" by Bobbi Katz and Steve Bjorkman. When shopping for books on dental health for preschoolers, look for ones that have bright, colorful pictures or images to hold their attention. You can also look for books with recognizable characters, such as the Spongebob Squarepants book titled "Behold, No Cavities!: A Visit to the Dentist" by Sarah Willson and Harry Moore or the Dora the Explorer book titled, "Show Me Your Smile!: A Visit to the Dentist" by Christine Ricci and Robert Roper.
Videos are another tool that educators can use to teach preschoolers about dental health. Dental videos catered to preschoolers are usually short (around five to 10 minutes), consist of colorful animations or over-the-top actors and have background music that is appealing to preschoolers. All these elements work to keep preschoolers engaged. Examples of dental videos for preschoolers include "Tooth Brusing with Charlie Brown," "Dudley Visits the Dentist" and "The Haunted Mouth."
Dental coloring pages combine dental education with art and fine motor skill development. Many dental coloring pages can be found online and printed for free. Coloring pages consisting of teeth help children learn about the shape and number of teeth in a person's mouth. Coloring pages of a child brushing his teeth can help preschoolers learn that teeth brushing is something all children must do. Coloring pages of a cavity helps teach children about the consequences about not brushing their teeth.
Dental props can be used to show preschools the correct way to brush, the way individual teeth look, what happens when a child looses a tooth, how teeth look in the mouth, as well as what happens at the dentist and why. Props that would be useful in the classroom include a jumbo toothbrush, a jumbo set of teeth, large individual teeth and a dentist's play set. As the educator, you can use the props yourself to teach your lessons or you can let the children play with the props to get a better understanding of the learning material.