AN EXCELLENT WAY TO PREPARE A CHILD FOR A DENTAL VISIT

Complete with sound effects and interactive rollovers, Visit the Dentist with Marty is sure to delight children. It’s an excellent way to prepare a child for a dental visit. Sit a very young child on your lap and go through the story together, or children three years and older can navigate the story by themselves. Turn the audio on and be read to, or turn it off and read it yourself. Discover foods that are healthy (and some that are not), learn about wearing a mouthguard when playing sports, and investigate the objects in a dentist’s office from the X-ray machine to the dental bib. Each time you read the story, you may make new discoveries!

                                                   INTERACTIVE STORY

                                                   Visit the dentist with Marty.

Description: Listen or read along as Marty takes a trip to the dentist with his mom.

How to Begin: Click on the image to open the story. Turn the audio "Off" if you prefer to read it yourself. Click on the flashing blue arrow to begin the story.

Grade Level(s): Preschool to second grade

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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS from the ADA (American Dental Association)

ADA Public Service Announcements are 30-second videotaped or animated messages providing oral health prevention and treatment information for patients and consumers. Consumers, dental professionals, and others are encouraged to download the the PSAs.

•Brush and Floss: Broadband/511k | Dial up/152k

•Brotherly Advice: Mouthguards: Broadband/200k | Dial up/112k

•Dental Quiz: Broadband/189k | Dial up/113k

•Dudley and Gramps Brush and Floss: Broadband/152k | Dial up/112k

•Dudley's Dental Island: Broadband/1.8MB | Dial up/96k

•Smile Scrapbook: Broadband/1.1MB | Dial up/101k

•Healthy Snacks with Dudley: Broadband/167k | Dial up/106k

•Losing Your Baby Teeth with Dudley and Charlie: Broadband/950k |
Dial up/159k

Early Childhood

•Baby Bottle Tooth Decay: Broadband/511k | Dial up/103k

•Baby Digby's First Tooth: Broadband/409k | Dial up/132k

Kindergarten Oral Health Requirement

New Law Requires Kindergarten Dental Check-up

In 2006, CDA sponsored AB 1433 (Emmerson/Laird). This landmark legislation requires that children have a dental check-up by May 31 of their first year in public school, at kindergarten or first grade. Dental evaluations that have happened within the 12 months prior to school entry also meet this requirement. If a dental check-up cannot be obtained, parents may get an excuse from this requirement by filling out the form provided by the child's school. Copies of the required form are available at the child’s school, at the California Department of Education Web site, or by clicking here.

The ultimate goal of this program is to establish a regular source of dental care for every child. The program will also identify children who need further examination and dental treatment, and will identify barriers to receiving care.

Many things influence a child’s progress and success in school – and one of the most important is their health. Children must be healthy to learn and children with cavities are not healthy. Cavities are preventable, but they affect more children than any other chronic disease!

Children need their teeth to eat properly, speak, smile and feel good about themselves. Children with cavities eat poorly, stop smiling, and don’t learn properly. Tooth decay is an infection that does not heal without treatment. If cavities are not treated, children can develop infections severe enough to require emergency room treatment and their adult teeth may be permanently damaged.

For further information, click on the appropriate link. Questions? Contact Gayle Mathe, Community Health Advocate at gayle.mathe@cda.org or call 916.554.4995. 

Information for Dental Professionals

Information for Parents and Guardians

Information for Schools

Information for Clinics

State-Required Assessment Forms 

Help Finding Dental Care

Kindergarten Dental Checkup Campaign Information

Oral Health Requirement Campaign Press Release 

Shared Resources for Children's Oral Health

Oral Health Fact Sheets

How can you protect your teeth so that they will serve you for a very long time? When it comes to maintaining oral health, ask questions! Find answers to your oral health questions with our oral health fact sheets, now available in English, Spanish, Hmong, Chinese, Russian, and Vietnamese.