Your teeth are

very IMPORTANT !

Do you know why ?

Why are teeth & gums very important ?

1. For TALKING

You need teeth to talk clearly.See for yourself how you use your teeth when you talk.

Say THUMB and your tongue goes between your teeth to make the TH sound.

2. For EATINGTo help you to bite and chew your food

so that you can swallow it easily.

3. For your APPEARANCE

Your face would look very strange without teeth.

The way a tooth decays can be seen in the pictures.

1. The enamel is attacked and a cavity begins.

2. The decay has spread to the dentine. This is softer than enamel and decay spreads quickly.

3. Decay has now reached the soft pulp.

4. Decay has spread quickly through the pulp to the end of the root. At this point an abscess forms which can cause pain and swelling of the face.

Human Dental Disease

One main dental disease in human beings.

Tooth Decay

What causes tooth decay ?

Tooth decay is caused by germs living in PLAQUE found on the teeth and gums.PLAQUE is a sticky almost invisible film made up of germs and material from the saliva and food.

And sugar

The germs turn sugar into acid which rots the teeth.

Tooth DecayTooth decay can destroy a tooth completely.

The Structure of a Tooth

It has a crown, the white part above the gum and a root.

The tooth is held in place by fibres.

The Structure of a Tooth

A tooth is made up of three layers :

Enamel – a protective covering which is the hardest substance in the body.

Dentine – this is the main part of the tooth and is softer then enamel.

Pulp – the soft centre of the tooth containing nerves and blood vessels.

How to prevent dental decay?

The more often you eat sugar and the longer it stays on the teeth, the more acid will be made by the germs in the plaque. This causes tooth decay.

Try not to be an all day sweet sucker.

Cut out sugary snacks between meals.

Save your sweets and eat them all in one go. Better still try foods without sugar in them

such as nuts, crisps, cheese, fruit and savoury biscuits.

Brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste at least twice a day, should prevent tooth decay. Fluoride strengthens the enamel on the tooth making it more resistant to attack by acids.

I’ve been talking to my new friends (and some old nags!) about their favourite drinks.

I’m a little concerned about whether their drinks are healthy for their teeth.

Can you help me find out please?

Oh, I love a bit of

milk! It’s my

favourite drink in

the world!

Oh, the juicy refreshing

taste of orange juice

is my favourite!

Me? Ha ha ha! I can’t get enough of those

energy drinks! I NEED them to keep all my

legs going! Yeah!

Hmmm, I’m afraid I rather enjoy

vinegar!! I sprinkle it on my crickets and have a glass

every night before bed!

There’s nothing better than an ice cold cola! We have it every day!

Goodness me!! I enjoy drinking plain old water to be

honest..

In order to help James, you are all going to have to be scientists!!

Consolidation

Thank you for being super scientists and helping me. I

couldn’t have done it without you