Teaching children about good oral health is fun! Especially when there are so many resources at your fingertips.
Our county’s childcare providers and teachers are in the best position to help parents and caring adults to help their children adopt healthy habits at home. To learn more, read this article by Amy Requa, board certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in Primary Care and the State Oral Health Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Head Start Association. The article, featured in Child Care Exchange, shares more about the importance of oral health for young children.
To get started, download and share our guidelines (English, Spanish) with families within your childcare and school communities.
Looking for resources and activities for your school or classroom? We’ve compiled the best resources to pull from so you can teach both your students and their families about how oral health can support a child’s overall health:
- Resources for school nurses, including
- Conducting oral health screenings & identifying dental emergencies
- Connecting your students to oral health care
- Promoting oral health education to parents
- Supplying curriculum resources to teachers
- A blog post from the National Conference of State Legislatures: The struggle for oral health screenings and exams in schools
- “Guardians of the Smile” educational material produced by Scholastic
- The Amazing World of Oral Health: A Teacher’s Guide
- Click here for Tips from the ToothFairy in English and Spanish, activity sheets for kids, and more.
- Read this PDF about Oral Health in Schools: Why it Matters by the PA Coalition for Oral Health
- Reading Public Library Oral Health Story Time Kit (sample curriculum, what’s included, barcode to check out kit materials)
- American Dental Association: Posters and Activity Sheets
- Colgate: Bright Smiles, Bright Futures program materials
- Crest & Oral-B DentalCare.com Resource: Children’s Dental Health Month materials
- Sesame Street: Healthy Teeth, Healthy Me PSA
Interested in having a dentist or dental hygienist visit your childcare program or classroom? Contact Monica Reyes at monicar@bccf.org or call Berks County Community Foundation at 610-685-2223.