Ensuring Your Child's Dental Health

• Poke a small hole into an otherwise pristine apple. The hole may be unnoticeable immediately, but check it again a day or two later. The hole is likely to become larger and brown, resembling a tooth cavity and showing kids just how quickly decay can occur.
• Have your child and his or her friends rinse their mouths with water dyed with food coloring, making sure they spit it out at the end. Give them all mirrors so they can see how the plaque along their gum lines and between their teeth suddenly shows, providing a visual for just how prevalent this decay-causing substance is in the mouth. Afterward, you can all practice flossing away the colored plaque, brushing and rinsing until those pearly whites show proudly.