Ideas for Classroom Activities

• Create a Healthy Smiles bulletin board with smile photos that students clip from magazines. Add oral health tips messages: (Brush and floss each day; eat nutritious foods; visit your dentist regularly)
• Conduct a dental health month coloring contest. Use the theme, Smiles are Always in Fashion, and ask children to draw a picture of themselves wearing their favorite outfit and a big smile.
• Contact the local dental society to inquire about having a dental health month speaker come to your classroom.
• Assign an essay contest. Ask students to complete a sentence, such as "My smile is important because…" or "Smiles are always in fashion because…"
• Ask children to name ways to clean teeth and gums (Brushing and flossing).
• Take an apple and make a hole one-inch deep in it. Put it in a paper bag and set aside for a few days. Cut through the place where the hole was made and have the children look at the effect of decay. This shows how decay spreads through a tooth. Explain while oral hygiene (brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and flossing once a day) is important.
• Have children name three things teeth do: Teeth are important for speaking, eating and smiling. If you didn’t have any teeth, it wouldn’t be easy to say teeth, toys or toothbrush. It would be hard to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star without teeth.
• Name some things you do that keep your body healthy. There are daily health habits that everyone needs to practice, such as eating a proper diet, exercising, bathing and sleeping. Caring for your mouth is as important as caring for the rest of your body. Cleaning teeth and gums removes a sticky film of plaque. Plaque contains harmful bacteria that can cause tooth decay.
• Have children say the alphabet and tell which sounds are made by using the teeth, tongue and lips.
• Ask children to make a list of what foods can be eaten without teeth and what foods must be chewed. Without teeth you couldn’t chew crunchy foods like carrots, nuts or apples.
• Discuss "baby" teeth. Some teeth are supposed to come out. They are called the "baby" teeth or "primary" teeth. After a baby tooth comes out, another tooth will come in. This new tooth must last for many, many years. You must take extra special care by brushing each day.
• Raise your hand if you had a tooth that fell out. Ask one or two children to describe what it feels like without the tooth.