Blog

Teaching oral hygiene at Oxley Park School

16-11-2016

At Oxford House Dental Practice we believe that good oral oral health starts when you are young, and good habits and knowledge at a young age can only help as you get older. When it comes to dental health and oral hygiene, preventative measures are preferable to treatment so when the nearby Oxley Park School invited Hafsa (dental therapist) and Kirsten (dental nurse) to help teach two classes of children about healthy eating and oral hygiene, they literally jumped at the opportunity.

The lessons were planned around learning types of teeth in both adult and primary dentition, the correct way to brush your teeth, with demonstrations, and different types of healthy and unhealthy snacks.

The day was a great success. The children were enthusiastic and fully engaged across all the activities. Hafsa highlighted that “It was interesting that their knowledge of types of teeth was generally good but they were not so sure about the difference between dentitions” – a knowledge gap that Hafsa and Kirsten were delighted to fill.

They already knew that ideally they should brush their teeth twice a day, but they did not know that brushing teeth at night can be more important than in the morning. They were glad to learn this and all agreed to bear that in mind from now on.

The lesson ended with an activity. Hafsa and Kirsten presented the children with a range of snacks, and gave them the task of identifying the healthy and unhealthy ones. Most of them were pretty obvious, which the children pointed them out straight away. But the main thing that threw them was the food that had a lot of hidden sugar – tomato ketchup and smoothies.  A valuable insight.

The children were engaged, attentive, and enjoyed the lessons. They each left with a goody bag filled with activity sheets, a tooth-brushing chart, a pencil, a toothbrush, toothpaste and a sticker. They left the classroom with bright shining smiles – which after that day will be shining for years to come.

Hafsa and Kirsten also thoroughly enjoyed the day. The team understands the importance of teaching children how to clean and look after their teeth, and school visits are a regular part of daily life at Oxford House.

If you would like our dentists to visit your school and teach about oral hygiene and dental health, feel free to get in touch by calling 01908 887389.