• Healthy teeth make smiles very pretty.
• Healthy teeth make eating enjoyable.
• Healthy teeth, healthy body

If teeth are ill,...

• It may hurt a lot.
• You will have difficulty in eating and general health will be affected.
• Tooth will be lost when the problem is serious, leading to poor alignment of teeth.

Therefore, we must carefully protect our teeth.

Tools for toothbrushing

• Toothbrush—tool for teeth cleaning

  The head of the toothbrush cannot be too big. A toothbrush head with a length of a 50cents is most suitable for primary school students. Remember to use it to brush daily in the morning and at night before bed!

• Toothpaste—agent for teeth cleaning
  Fluoride Toothpaste should be used. Fluoride helps strengthen the teeth and prevent tooth decay. A very small amount of toothpaste, about the size of a pea is enough.

Toothbrushing method

1. Use a pea sized blob of fluoride toothpaste.
2. Hold your brush at an angle to the teeth and gum margin.
3. Brush the outer surfaces of two to three teeth at a time in back-and-forth motion. Brush each group of teeth for at least ten times. Remember not to brush too hard, otherwise you will damage your teeth and gum.
4. Then place the toothbrush at the inner surface of teeth. Brush two to three teeth at a time and repeat the teeth cleaning motion.
5. When cleaning the inner surfaces of front teeth, place the toothbrush vertically onto the surface of the teeth and brush from the gum upwards towards the crown of the teeth.
6. Lastly, we need to clean the chewing surfaces of teeth. Place the toothbrush on the chewing surfaces and brush back and forth.
7. Remember to clean all three surfaces of your upper and lower teeth.

Dental floss is very useful

Toothbrushing doesn't clean the adjacent tooth surfaces of teeth (that is surfaces in between teeth).

Dental floss is your good help. Remember to use it daily to clean the adjacent tooth surfaces of teeth.

Let's learn to use dental floss together

1. Form a loop with a piece of dental floss that is about 20cm to 25cm long.
2. Control the dental floss with your thumbs and index fingers.
3. Pull the dental floss left and right to slide it in between teeth.
4. Pull the dental floss onto one side of the adjacent tooth surface, and pull it up and down to clean the tooth surface.
5. Pull the dental floss onto another side of the adjacent tooth surface, and pull it up and down to clean the other tooth surface.
6. Repeat the above procedure until every adjacent tooth surface is cleaned.

Before you know how to use dental floss, you can ask your parents for help.

Do you know why there is tooth decay?
There is often a layer of dental plaque on the surfaces of our teeth, which is filled with bacteria.
The bacteria in dental plaque will produce acid when we eat.
The acid attacks our tooth surfaces and leads to tooth decay.
Every time we eat or drink, there will be a chance for developing tooth decay.
Therefore, the more frequently we eat or drink, the higher the chance for us to get dental caries

How can dental caries be prevented?

Wrong - Snacking outside regular meals or tea time.

Correct - Sufficient food taken for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Correct - Only one snack in between meals.

Correct - If you want to take snacks or drinks, you should take meal and snack together to reduce the frequency of snaking.

Wrong - Drinking flavoured beverages outside regular meals or tea time.

Correct - Only drink water.

Dentists are our good friends. They can help us keep our teeth healthy.

Dental instrument encyclopaedia

• Mouth mirror—used to clearly see the condition inside our mouth.
• Dental probe—used to inspect our teeth.
• Dental chair—allows you to sit comfortably to receive dental check-up. It's fun! It can move up and down.
• Tweezers—used to hold cotton for teeth cleaning.
• Air gun—blows out water and air to make you feel very comfortable.
• Saliva ejector—used to suck out saliva and debris in your mouth.

How do dentists help me?

• Teach us how to brush.
• Inspect our teeth to see if they are healthy.
• Treat oral diseases.
• Apply fissure sealant, topical fluoride, etc. to minimize chances of getting tooth problems.
• Take x-rays for teeth.
• Answer questions related to oral problems.

Remember to go see a dentist once a year, and co-operate with the dentist to keep your teeth healthy.

Fluoride is very useful for prevention of tooth decay. It can:

• Restore early dental caries.
• Strengthen teeth, and increase their resistance toward acidic attacks.
• Reduce acid production by bacteria.

Where can we get fluoride?

Drinking water in Hong Kong already contains fluoride. To absorb sufficient fluoride, we only need to drink water daily and brush with fluoride toothpaste every morning and before bed at night.