Celebrate Children's Oral Health Month
It’s February! It may be more than half over, but there’s still time to celebrate National Children’s Oral Health Month with your own kids, your patients, your neighbors, your online friends, or whoever!
Oral health in children has become a passion of mine since last year. I’m not going to lie. I was never a fan of treating kids in the dental office. The appointment is always rushed, stressful, the kids are wiggly, and teaching them seemed silly as all they wanted to talk about was their new toy or what show they liked to watch. I even have a 4 year old, but those pedo appointments always made me nervous. However, last year, our family were able to take care of 2 little girls (4 & 3 years old) for a few months. Having them in our home showed how important my role of a dental hygienist is to the oral health education of kids. They had been going to the dentist every 6 months through a school program, but hadn’t been receiving the education about oral health at home. They didn’t own toothbrushes, loves to snack on carbs all day, and unfortunately had decay on every tooth. This inspired me to be the best hygienist for these patients! They are so little, so cute, so willing to learn, and so quick to pick up on what’s being taught! Even though they may not be getting as much support at home that I’d like to see, we can show a lot of love and teaching at each appointment to make the dental office a positive, lifelong experience.
So, let’s not be nervous about seeing pedo patients, but let’s celebrate them this February with National Children’s Oral Health Month!
Looking for some ways to celebrate? We rounded up a few of our favorite crafts, teaching aids, and activities to highlight the importance of oral health.
The ADHA and the American Academy of Pediatrics have worked together this year to create a campaign and educational materials about the importance of oral health for moms and their babies. Let’s keep those teeth healthy from day one!
ADA National Children’s Dental Health Month
The ADA has created 2019 posters to help promote this year’s NCDHM, as well as helpful information about press releases, etc to help you promote the month in your neighborhood or city. There are fun worksheets as well in both English and Spanish to not only use this month, but anytime!
This download looks really cute! Full of ideas, printables, and and activities to use this month, but could be used at any school visit throughout the year.
Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures
Colgate is dedicated to helping kids. Through the Bright Smiles, Bright Future website, you can request the Colgate Mobile Dental Clinic Van to visit a site, or find some videos that could be shared on your Facebook Page to promote this amazing month of health.
Why not try an experiment at your office or with your kids to show the importance of good home care and the negative effects of soda on teeth.
What do you do for National Children’s Dental Health Month?