Friday 14 October

Got my toothpaste, got my brush,
I won't hurry, I won't rush.
Making sure my teeth are clean,
Front and back and in between.
When I brush for quite a while,
I will have a happy smile!
(Author Unknown)

Today we had our much awaited visit from Dr. Rabbit. This was a wonderful and educationally rich experience which had us revising our awareness and understanding of important dental hygiene concepts. The early years in a child's development are the best time for a child to learn about oral health and to develop a positive attitude about good dental habits.  Dr. Rabbit certainly aided us in our understanding and spent time discussing such important aspects of dental health and hygiene as; the significance of regular brushing in maintaining a healthy and clean smile, foods to consume more regularly and only occasionally to help keep our teeth strong and our bodies active and ways by which to brush effectively to ensure that any nasties or ‘sugar bugs’ (plaque) are removed from our teeth and gums.

The children posed some wonderful questions to Dr. Rabbit which he answered with enthusiasm and interest. Lily asked if you still have 20 teeth when your adult teeth grow. Children have 20 teeth (10 on top and 10 on the bottom), as adults we have 32 teeth! Dario was keen to know if you brush more than the recommended 2 times daily if your teeth would become whiter. It seems that over brushing can be just as detrimental as not brushing at all and that it is important to be kind to our teeth and gums with a gentle yet comprehensive brushing after eating. Jerome explained that visiting the dentist was yet another important way by which to maintain our pearly whites. Dr. Rabbit certainly agreed that regular check-ups were very important in maintaining our oral hygiene and that dental visits were not only for when we had a toothache. Well done Preschool on some very challenging questions!

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