Introduction:

This lesson on teeth was written as one long lesson but the intention is for it to be done over several sessions.  Just decide how to break it up for your schedule.

Vocabulary: grind, tear, crush, incisors, cuspids, bicuspids, molars, digestion, communicate, appearance, deciduous teeth, permanent teeth, enamel, dentin, pulp, gums, bone, cementum, nerves, root, healthy, anatomy, cavities, gingivitis, periodontal disease, decay, calcium, plaque, dentist, dental hygienist, fillings, sealants, crowns, bridges, partials, extraction, surgery, instruments,

Materials: The following handouts, samples of different types of food, pictures from magazines of people smiling, black marker, pencil, red crayon, orange crayon, blue crayon, green crayon, things for a lap book or notebook (which ever you choose to do)

Construction paper, dental floss, egg carton, paint, 2 pieces of white felt, scrap piece of black felt, scrap piece of blue felt, 2 wiggly eyes, Velcro, hot glue gun or sewing machine, cotton balls, scissors, scotch tape, mini-marshmallows, dice, cardboard, sponge, glue, baking soda, salt, pop bottle, glycerin, water, rubber glove, peanut butter, butter knife, toothbrush, toothpaste,

Label the teeth handout

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/teeth/labelteeth/

Answers

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/teeth/labelteeth/answers.shtml

Mechanics of chewing handout

http://teachhealthk-12.uthscsa.edu/curriculum/oralhealth/pa09pdf/0901D-SWS.pdf

Kinds of teeth handout

http://teachhealthk-12.uthscsa.edu/curriculum/oralhealth/pa09pdf/0901B-SWS.pdf

Machines that are like teeth

http://download-v5.streamload.com/139b1c9f-7403-4519-b181-26a5c951ad9f/mommaof4/Hosted/Machines%20that%20are%20like%20teeth.doc

Tooth Anatomy

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/teeth/toothanatomy.shtml

Tooth Anatomy Quiz

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/teeth/toothquiz.shtml

Template for your tooth model

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/healthykids/resources/h_kids_teeth_2.1ab.pdf

Help The Tooth Fairy find Your Tooth

http://www.cunningdental.com/games/mazes/CDG-MAZE-TOOTH-FAIRY.html

Franklin and the Tooth Fairy Coloring page

http://www.dltk-teach.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.dltk-teach.com/books/bfranklintoothfairy.gif

Instructions for making a loose tooth pillow

http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/mpillow.htm

Marshmallow tooth game

http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/printables/teeth_set.pdf

“Taking Care of Your Teeth”

 http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/body/teeth.html

Find the hidden toothbrushes

http://www.oakparkdentistryforchildren.com/Find_Toothbrush.pdf

Connect the dots to find out who Toothy’s best friend is

http://www.cunningdental.com/ActivitiesBook-ConnectDots.html

Time to brush maze

http://www.cunningdental.com/games/mazes/CDG-MAZE-TIME-2-BRUSH.html

Brushing Chart

http://www.cunningdental.com/ActivitiesBook-ToothBrushingChart.html

Lesson:

What are teeth for?  What purpose do they serve?  Any guesses? 

Well your teeth do a few different jobs.  They help you chew food properly for digestion.  They help you form certain sounds necessary for speaking.  They also help you have a pleasant appearance and smile. 

Think about how hard it would be to swallow certain foods if we didn’t have teeth to chew.  Could you eat a carrot stick, an apple, or a chicken nugget with out chewing it?  There are 4 different kinds of teeth in your mouth all with a different job to do.  Let’s look at our handout “The Different Kinds Of Teeth”.  We have incisors, cuspids, bicuspids, and molars.  Let’s read what each kind of tooth does and looks like.  Now lets locate and color the teeth in the picture.

We are going to do an activity to see how our teeth work.  We are also going to record our findings.  Get out your sheet entitled “Mechanics of Chewing”

Think about how our teeth worked to chew the food.  You could say our teeth are like little machines the way they cut or tear, grind, and crush our food.  Can you think of any real machines that do the jobs like our teeth do.  List all the machines you can think of and the job they do. (Hint: kitchen utensils like the fork or knife, yard tools like a mulcher)  We’ll use our handout “Machines That Are Like Teeth” to write our list on.

Now lets analyze how these machines are similar to our teeth and what teeth they work like.  We will right the tooth they are like in the 3^rd column.

We’ve discussed how teeth help us chew food.  Now we are going to discuss how teeth help us speak.  Say these words: thirsty, thank you, thistle, and sister.  How did your teeth help you say those words?  Answer: we positioned our tongue and lips against our teeth to form those words.  Can you think of any other words that the teeth help us say?  Now let’s imagine we didn’t have teeth, how would this affect our speech?  Would we be able to understand each other?  Would it be harder to communicate with other people with out our teeth?

So far we have learned how teeth help us chew food, and communicate with one another, but we also said they help with appearance.  Look at these photos of people with smiles.  What do you notice about these photos?  Now let’s blacken out some of the teeth, so it appears as if they are missing.  What do you notice now?  So do you think teeth are important in how we appear?  Why?

Now we are going to do the handout “Label the Teeth” for our lap book or notebook. (which ever you are doing)

Let’s take a closer look at the tooth.  Get out the “Tooth Anatomy” handout.  Look at the different parts that make up your tooth.  We’re going to make a model of a tooth now. 

As you know we get 2 sets of teeth the primary teeth (baby teeth) and permanent teeth (adult teeth).  Do you know why we have primary teeth when we are young?  We have primary teeth to hold the place and help guide our permanent teeth into place.  They also help in the development of speech and chewing.  As you grow your mouths grow too.  Your primary teeth aren’t big enough to do the job in your growing mouths therefore as you grow you lose them.  The root of the primary tooth dissolve as your new permanent tooth is formed under the gums.  When the permanent tooth is ready it slowly pushes the primary tooth.  This is what causes your primary tooth to become loose.  Eventually the primary tooth will fall out and the permanent tooth will emerge from your gum to take its place. 

Note: If you have kept your child’s baby teeth you could show them the difference in size from the adult teeth they have now.  Or you could use a younger sibling or their own mouth to show the size difference. 

By the time a child is 3 they should have 20 primary teeth.  Then the child will start to lose those teeth between the ages of 6 to 14.  They will eventually be replaced by 32 permanent teeth.   When you are around 17 you will get 4 more teeth called wisdom teeth.  They are a 3^rd set of molars.

Stories to read about losing teeth.

Landie and the loose tooth story

http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/landie.htm

Franklin and the tooth fairy

Little Rabbit’s loose tooth – Lucy Bates

*Activities to do for this portion of the lesson

Help The Tooth Fairy find Your Tooth Maze

Franklin and the Tooth Fairy Coloring page

Make a loose tooth pillow

I lost a tooth or I have a full mouth certificate

http://www.bow.k12.nh.us/firstgrade/Teeth/i%20_lost_a_tooth.htm

The Lost tooth online game

http://www.colgate.com/app/Kids-World/US/Game_Toothcastle.cvsp

Marshmallow tooth game

What would happen if you didn’t take care of your teeth?  You would get tooth decay that would lead to cavities, gingivitis, periodontal disease, and mouth odor.  Here you can look at images of teeth that have not been cared for properly.  http://ms-flossy.tripod.com/

So what are these diseases?  (Older students can read this site about dental diseases http://www.doctorshealthsupply.com/dentists/dental_disease_division.htm )

For younger kids print this out.  “Taking Care of Your Teeth”

Read the section “Why Healthy Teeth Are Important”

You can also get more information. http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/wisdomtooth/faqs.htm

And this info on cavities http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/cavity.html

Do this experiment to demonstrate the effects of this acid on our teeth.

http://www.healthyteeth.org/experiments/acidAttack.html

We can also see what different liquids will do to our teeth if we didn’t take care of them.  Here is what to do.  Get 3 cups in each cup place cola, milk, and orange juice.  Now take 3 eggs and place one in each cup.  Let the eggs sit in the liquid for a few days, then take them out and see what affect the liquids had on the eggs.  The eggs are like our teeth in that the shell is made of calcium just like our teeth are made of calcium.

Make sure to record your findings in your lap book or notebook.

Attack of The Plaque Monsters – online game

http://www.colgate.com/app/Kids-World/US/Game_Plaquemonsters.cvsp

Save the tooth from the Plaque Monster – online hangman type game

http://www.colgate.com/app/Kids-World/US/Game_Toothman.vsp

So do you think it is important to take care of your teeth?  Can you think of some ways to can take of your teeth?

Now read “How You Can Keep Your Teeth Healthy” from the handout “Taking Care Of Your Teeth”

Read this site to learn the proper way to brush our teeth.  http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/wisdomtooth/brushing.htm

So we read how brushing can take care of our teeth. Now let’s do this experiment to demonstrate how brushing helps remove plaque from our teeth.  Boil an egg in water with a tea bag.  It should turn the egg a brown color.  When the egg cools have the child take a toothbrush and brush away the brown stain.

Make your own toothbrush

http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/fork6/a/bltoothbr1.htm

Make your own toothpaste

http://mizar5.com/toothpst.htm

Toothbrush patch – online game

http://www.colgate.com/app/Kids-World/US/Game_Toothbrushpatch.cvsp

Write a poem, song, or small report about brushing your teeth on this paper for your lap book or notebook

http://www.abcteach.com/teeth/brushteeth.htm

Use the “Brushing Chart” to keep track if you are brushing your teeth enough.

Not only is brushing important so is flossing. Read how to floss our teeth. http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/wisdomtooth/flossing.htm

Now let’s practice flossing our teeth doing this activity.

http://www.instructorweb.com/lesson/eggfloss.asp

Let’s do a dental floss painting.  Cut out a large tooth out of construction paper or poster board.  Then have the children string paint with dental floss.

Which works better at getting the food from between your teeth?  Do this activity to see.

http://www.healthyteeth.org/experiments/flossBoss.html

Now that you have learned the proper way to brush and floss your teeth we are going to see how well you’ve been caring for your mouth.  We are going to use these Sensodyne disclosing tables and it will show all the spots that haven’t been cleaned properly.

Look in the mirror what do you see?  If we have any spots showing brush and floss your teeth to make the spots disappear.

Suggested stories to read

Dr. Desoto – W. Steig

Just going to the dentist – Mercer Mayer

The Bernstein bears visit the dentist

What is the 3^rd way we can take care of our teeth?  We can take care of our teeth by visiting a dentist twice a year.  A dentist is a doctor who takes care of and fixes teeth.  At the dentist office he has a special assistant called a dental hygienist.  The dental hygienist helps the dentist with his job.

When you go for your visit there is a few things they will do.  The dentist will count your teeth to see if you have the proper amount and that they line up properly.  They’ll also check your teeth and gums to make sure that they are healthy and have no signs of tooth decay or gum disease.  If there are any problems they can fix them by doing fillings, sealants, crowns, bridges, partials, extractions, and surgery.  The dental hygienist will apply fluoride and fissure sealants to your teeth to help protect them.  She will also take x-rays of your mouth for the dentist to look at.  The dental hygienist also has special tools she’ll use to clean your teeth if they need it.

We are going to visit a web site that will show us how the dental hygienist uses the equipment to clean your teeth.  http://www.adha.org/kidstuff/games/visit/visiting.htm

At this website you can look at lots of cool images of dentistry instruments.

http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/dental-instrument.html

Here’s a video you can watch of a girl named Sarah and her visit to her dentist.

http://www.simplestepsdental.com/SS/ihtSS/r.WSIHW000/st.35080/t.35084/pr.3.html

There is a 4^th way to take care of your teeth, by eating the right foods.  Let’s look at our paper “Snack Facts” http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/wisdomtooth/snack.htm

 Now that we read about food that is good and bad for our teeth, let’s play this game. 

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/abyss/games/food.htm

Healthy Snack Maze

http://homeschooling.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=homeschooling&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.state.tn.us%2Fhealth%2Fkids%2Foral%2Fmaze.stm

Snack Smart Orchard game

http://www.colgate.com/app/Kids-World/US/Game_Orchard.cvsp

Here are some things to finish up the lessons

Word Search

http://www.cunningdental.com/ActivitiesBook-WordSearchChallenge.html

Word Search (easy)

http://www.cunningdental.com/ActivitiesBook-SmileCareWordSearche.html

Crossword Puzzle

http://www.cunningdental.com/ActivitiesBook-YourSmileCrossWord.html

Online dental quiz

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/abyss/games/quizeng4.htm

Dental coloring pages to use in your lap book or notebooks

http://www.coloring.ws/dental.htm

Make a Smile Collage

Use old magazines to find pictures of smile and then have them glue them to construction paper.  Make sure they cut out only the mouths not the whole face.

Clean Teeth Award

http://www.sesameworkshop.org/parents/solutions/awards/view.php?contentId=108770

A look at my teeth – lesson plan w/ worksheets 3^rd – 5^th

Objective – students will learn about their teeth and make a record of their present teeth

http://www.teachercreated.com/lessons/021025is.shtml

Care of teeth – has games, lessons, projects, and worksheets K- 5^th

http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/learning/qt/csheadenhygk.htm

1998 Lost and Found Internet Tooth Project – has project activities, lessons and additional resources K- 2^nd

http://schools.bcps.org/schools/ces/cromwell/tooth/cveteeth.html

Dental Care webquest 2 different levels – even has vocabulary words

http://42explore.com/dentl.htm

Egg flossing lesson plan K – 3^rd

http://www.instructorweb.com/lesson/eggfloss.asp

Several different online games about teeth from Colgate ages 4-9

http://www.colgate.com/app/Kids-World/US/HomePage.cvsp

Let’s talk teeth unit plan K – 5^th

http://atozteacherstuff.com/pages/1702.shtml

Learn how to make your own toothpaste or toothpowder.

http://mizar5.com/toothpst.htm

Eggspperiment from Crest – teach children the importance of brushing

http://www.crestkids.com/crest_kids/eggsperiment.jsp

Teeth: Online word search puzzle 1^st grade

http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/nbarkhou/health/wordsearch/grade1searchteeth.html

The Wisdom tooth – this site offers brushing tips, flossing tips, wisdom teeth, what is a dental hygienist, and facts and trivia about toothpaste.

http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/wisdomtooth/

The Orthodontic information page – find info on braces. There is a fun section that is worth checking out.

http://www.bracesinfo.com/

Brace Yourself!  Learning about orthodontic devices and how they work.  Lesson plan for grades 6^th – 12^th

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20001205tuesday.html

Brushing and Flossing to a Healthy Smile grade 3 – lesson plan

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Health/Body_Systems_and_Senses/BSS0015.html

Dental Health lesson plan for 1^st grade

http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Health/Body_Systems_and_Senses/BSS0008.html

Dental Health Month a long list of different activities

http://www.dupagehealth.org/health_ed/dental_month.html

Dental Zone Health Quiz online – upper elementary through junior high

http://www.saveyoursmile.com/quiz/dzonlinequiz.html

Healthy teeth an oral health education database

http://www.healthyteeth.org/

5 lesson plans on oral health with handouts grades K-5

http://www.oralb.com/learningcenter/teaching/

The Smilestones

http://www.thesmilestones.com/

Snack Facts – a fact sheet about food and how it affects your mouth

http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/wisdomtooth/snack.htm

Brush and Floss Dental Health Unit

http://www.teachingheart.net/teeth.html

Teeth Theme Unit

http://www.abcteach.com/directory/theme_units/science/teeth/

The Truth about teeth – elementary

http://kidshealth.org/kid/body/teeth_noSW.html

Web Dental Office – all the dental advice you need to keep your teeth and gums healthy for your whole life.

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/abyss/index.htm

What causes health decay – grades 2 – 6

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Health/Body_Systems_and_Senses/BSS0007.html

Healthy foods for your teeth

http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/717.html

Healthy kids page – dental activities

http://www2.state.tn.us/health/kids/activity.htm

Healthy teeth – tooth unit 2^nd grade

http://www.myschoolonline.com/page/0,1871,24742-145616-27-2540,00.html

Snack smart for healthy teeth

http://www.myschoolonline.com/page/0,1871,24742-145616-27-2540,00.html

Healthy teeth: hands on science activity K – 12^th

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/04/lp332-01.shtml

Make a commercial for “Brighty-Whitey” toothpaste grades K – 12^Th lesson plan

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/04/lp332-03.shtml

The History of Dentistry Lesson plan grades 6-12

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/04/lp332-04.shtml

Smile Collage lesson plan grades K-8

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/04/lp332-05.shtml

Let’s brush our teeth lesson plan grades 1-2

http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonplans/unit_teeth.htm

Tooth talk lesson plan

http://serp.la.asu.edu/Health_dir/Health_dir14/ToothTlk.pdf

Take a look at your teeth from Time for kids

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/media/teachers/pdfs/2003S/030131BPt.pdf

The importance of brushing your teeth lesson plan for grades 1-2

http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Health/Body_Systems_and_Senses/BSS0006.html

Oral anatomy of a healthy mouth unit

http://teachhealthk-12.uthscsa.edu/curriculum/oralhealth/oralhealth01-anatomy.htm

11 lesson plans on teeth

http://lessonplancentral.com/lessons/Health/Teeth/index.htm

The Teeth: Tooth tales of ripping, grinding, and tearing.  A good lesson for teaching what the teeth are for

http://www.henry.k12.ga.us/cur/mybody/digest_lessons.htm

Open wide and trek inside – 6 lessons where you’ll learn about your mouth and your teeth

http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih2/oral-health/guide/lessons.htm

Pearly Whites lesson plan

http://www.thesolutionsite.com/lpnew_bin/UI_Metadata/public/1954

Dental disease prevention program Smiles – all kinds of information, activities, and a book list just scroll to the bottom and click on a tooth

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/smiles/

Students give lessons on brushing and flossing teeth – article – creative inspiration

http://www.musc.edu/catalyst/archive/1999/co2-25students.htm

Care for your teeth lesson plan

http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts/247.html

Tooth Truth: Talk teeth and make a toothbrush holder ages 3-5

http://pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/activities/acts/tooth_truth.html

Teeth and eating 10 different units just scroll down and pick

http://www.timetoteach.co.uk/Unit3ATeethandeating.html

Bright Smiles 3^rd grade lesson plans

http://www.thesolutionsite.com/lpnew/lesson/10303/overview.html

Zoothland – an interactive site for learning how to care for teeth

http://www.zoothland.com/

Games and puzzles from The American Dental Association

http://www.ada.org/public/games/games.asp

Candy Why the Bad Rap – educational article

http://www.saveyoursmile.com/parents/candy.html

Dental images – x-rays and loads of others

http://ms-flossy.tripod.com/

Online coloring page of teeth

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/jvteeth.htm

My tooth is wiggling online games and stories

http://www.mtnbrook.k12.al.us/academy/kind/ktwebwork.htm

What causes tooth decay lesson plan grades 2-6

http://www.col-ed.org/cur/misc/misc50.txt

Simple steps to better dental health

http://www.simplestepsdental.com/SS/ihtSS/r.WSIHW000/st.31819/pr.3.html

Clyde’s Smile – online stories and activities

http://www.storyplace.org/preschool/activities/clydesmile.asp?themeid=5

Dental games – a great collection of dental related games

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/abyss/games/games.htm

Dental Coloring Pages

http://www.coloring.ws/dental.htm

Dental Health theme – songs, art, books, games, coloring pages, and more

http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/dentalhealth/

Flick and the tooth test

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/healthykids/flick/

Dental theme for preschoolers

http://stepbystepcc.com/dental.html

The story of super tooth

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/smiles/supertooth.html

Frogwart and the tooth fairies online story

http://www.meddybemps.com/10.1.html

Lesson plan tell the tooth glyph

http://schools.bcps.org/schools/ces/cromwell/tooth/aboutglyph.html

Dental Health Month Activities

http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/dental_health_month.htm

Mr. C’s mazes

http://www.cunningdental.com/CDG-Dr-Cs-Mazes.html

I lost a tooth certificate

http://www.bow.k12.nh.us/firstgrade/Teeth/i%20_lost_a_tooth.htm

Make a lost tooth packet

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/smiles/tooth-loss.gif

Landie and the loose tooth bedtime story

http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/landie.htm

Teeth at enchanted learning

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/teeth.shtml

Dental Games Quiz

http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/abyss/games/quizeng4.htm

Save Sydney’s smile

http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/webquests/groffquest/dental.html

Clean teeth award

http://www.sesameworkshop.org/parents/solutions/awards/view.php?contentId=108770

Arnold’s great tooth exploration

http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/games/colgate/explore.htm

Magic school bus about your teeth

http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/games/colgate/print.htm

Tooth or consequences lesson plan

http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts/474.html