Date: May 1997

Grade Level(s): 1

Subject(s):

• Health/Body Systems and senses

Goal:

The students will see importance of dental health.

Objectives:

1. The students will be able to demonstrate how to brush teeth correctly.

2. The students will be able to demonstrate how to floss properly.

Background Information:

The students will be instructed on how to brush and floss, first of all, without having the brush and the floss in their hands. They will, as a class, talk about the importance of it and some steps that the students might already know.

Procedure:

A. Brushing

1. The classroom will have three sets of large models of teeth and brushes.

2. Break the class into three groups with each group having a set of teeth and brush to work with, and have supervisor at each group. While a parent or dental assistant will work as supervisors, the ideal supervisor for this lesson would be a dental hygienist.

3. The students will be instructed on the proper way to brush. They need to make sure to get the back teeth and not just the front teeth. The brush is to go in little circles on the outside, inside and bottoms of the teeth.

4. Bushing your teeth should be done at least two times a day and does take time. A quick job isn't always a good job!

5. All of the students will have to demonstrate that they can brush correctly. When they have done so, the student will get a brush to take home. Each brush is individually wrapped and cannot be open while at school. (For sanitary purposes.)

B. Flossing

1. The students will remain in three groups, with supervisors in each group.

2. Students will be instructed that flossing should only occur when a parent or another adult is there to help them.

3. The students each get partners, and each student gets a piece of yarn. The yarn will simulate dental floss.

4. In each pair of students, one person will have the yarn, and the other will put their hand up with their fingers spread apart. The person with the yarn will be the person who is practicing flossing. The flosser will have to put the yarn in between their partner's fingers, one finger at a time. When one student has finished, then the other student has a turn to be the flosser.

5. Doing it with fingers simulates how it would be if it was actually teeth. It is done this way for sanitary reasons.

6. The yarn should be placed around each finger in a c-shape, as if they are teeth, and slid gently up and down the finger. Once the teeth are all flossed, the yarn needs to be put in the garbage because there are many germs on it from students' hands.

Assessment:

1. Ask the students, as a class, to give directions on the proper way to brush teeth.

2. Ask the class to give directions on how to properly floss teeth.