Teeth and Oral Health - EYFS/Early Years activities, Displays and ideas

Please note: The ‘Teeth and Oral Health’ topic resources on this page are FREE!

SECTIONS ON THIS PAGE:

Free ‘Dentist’ role-play pack
An overview of ‘Oral Health’ with regard to the EYFS Framework.
Free ‘Teeth and Oral Health’ Resources
‘Dentist’ resources from our ‘People Who Help Us’ page
‘Teeth and Oral Health’ Resources available on our ‘Get Organised’ pages
Related ‘Health & Hygiene’ Topic & Awareness Date pages you may be interested in

Featured - Why not set up a Dentist role play area for your dolls and teddies to visit? Children will also love to practice bushing their teddy bear's teeth! Have fun!

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Why oral health is included in the EYFS framework

This has been included because good oral health habits need to be formed from the earliest age. Tooth decay is largely preventable, but it’s still a serious problem among young children.

Nearly a quarter of 5 year olds in England have tooth decay, with 3 or 4 teeth affected on average. Tooth extraction is one of the most common procedures for children under 6 in hospital. Extraction is also the most common reason for hospital admission for children aged 6 to 10. Children from more deprived backgrounds are more likely to have tooth decay.

Children who have toothache, or need treatment, may have pain or infections. This can have a wider effect and lead to problems eating, sleeping, socialising and learning.

Promoting oral health

You can decide how you promote oral health, based on what works best in your setting. Ideally, you can link oral health to things you already promote, like self-care, healthy eating and physical development.

Be playful with children about oral health. Suggest they brush the teeth of dolls or soft toys. Read stories about teeth and smiles. Talk about healthy food and drinks that help to grow strong teeth, and those that do not. Get them to look at their own and each other’s teeth, using mirrors.

Talk about tooth brushing with fluoride toothpaste as children arrive. Give parents and carers knowledge and practical advice to support oral health at home.

You can also support children’s awareness of oral health by:

visiting dentists or having them visit you
providing or showing toothbrushing kits
showing toothbrushing routines

Supervised toothbrushing

You can decide if you want to bring in supervised toothbrushing. There are various schemes that support this. Speak to your local authority about it and read the supervised tooth brushing programme toolkit from Public Health England.

This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.