On Tuesday the 6th of September, Amber and I went to Good Start at Tumbi Umbi to give the Oral Health presentation about why we have teeth and how to keep them happy and Healthy.
As we arrived, the children were outside playing in the fresh air, in the sand pits and on their bikes. There were so many fun things to play with!
We set up our presentation in front of the big colourful mat. This is where the children sit when they are listening to their teacher speak or read a book.
When we were ready, the very kind teachers brought in the bubbly cute children to sit on the mat. As we saw all the beautiful faces we thought we should get things started with a big smile from everyone. We could see so many bright and happy smiles. The children were so excited to meet Amber the Tooth Fairy and couldn’t wait to ask her some questions. One child noticed Mr Dragon sitting on the table and spotted his big teeth and yellow dots on his tail.
We used Mr Dragon to show everyone how to brush our teeth. We started by brushing the fronts of his teeth with circles and we got the children to make circles with their arms. Next we were brushing the biting areas of Mr Dragons teeth by scrubbing and the children we doing scrubbing movements with their arms. Once we had been through brushing Mr Dragons teeth, he had to spit out all the toothpaste. We explained to the children that it is good to spit out the toothpaste, but not to rinse with water so the important minerals can keep the teeth strong. We passed around Mr Dragon so everyone could have a go at brushing his big teeth.
When I asked why do we clean our teeth, a child told us it is so we do not get cavities. I was blown away with the answer! She was totally correct, we brush our teeth so the sugars from our food don’t eat into our teeth. Another way we can do this is to drink and wash our mouth with water after eating.
Looking around the room, we could see that a couple of the children had missing front teeth. It was so exciting to hear that the tooth fairy had come to their house and taken the tooth but left a little treat for them. They loved that Amber the tooth fairy was here today and wondered where she put all of the children’s teeth she had collected. However, this had to stay a secret.
We got two helpers up the front to show everyone what happens at a dental check up. They Dentist and Patient looked great all dressed up and played their roles very well. The patient had 20 happy teeth and she told us how her bottom front teeth are actually wobbly.
The children loved their gift bags and were so happy with the coloured toothbrushes!
We gave the preschool a Colgate story book with the character Brushalotamus. It talks about different ways we can keep our teeth happy. It tells us why it is important to eat healthy everyday foods, drinking lots of water, brush our teeth 2 times and have regular dental visits. The preschool teacher started reading it while Amber and I were packing up. The children were very interested in the story book.
The children gave us a big cheerful good bye and loved walking us to the door and waving through the fence.
It was really nice seeing so many little happy faces and smiles.
Sam Nowlan (Oral Health Therapist).
