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Dental Craft Ideas

If you have any Dental Craft ideas, please email me. Thanks for your contributions! I often am looking for dental Ideas to make people.  Especially around the holidays....Please share yours!

You can make bracelets out of old toothbrush handles. The bristles need to be pulled out (with a plier). Then the toothbrush should be sterilized (in cold sterile, not autoclave, they will melt!!). After clean and sterile, place in boiling water for about 30 seconds, then pull out and bend in a loop, like a bangle bracelet (just be careful, because they get very hot). The toothbrush handles that bend the easiest are the simple straight handles that aren't too bulky (handles like on the colgate wave don't bend). They are really cute and you can't tell that they are toothbrush handles unless you look close, kids really like them.
Posted on: Amy's instant dental crafts page

Smiling Craft
Materials Needed:
**Construction Paper
**Scissors
**Glue
 Instructions:
Cut out a 6" by 4" pair of smiling lips out of red construction paper and an 8" by 1/2" strip of white paper. Snip off little pieces of the white paper strip to make "teeth". Glue the paper teeth on the paper lips to make big toothy smiles.
From: http://familycrafts.about.com/library/projects/blsmilecr1.htm?terms=smiling+craft

Toothbrush Craft
Materials Needed:
**Cardboard
**Crayons
**Paint or Markers
**Sponge
**Glue
Instructions:
Cut a large toothbrush handle shape out of the cardboard and color it your favorite color. Cut a piece of sponge to glue on where the bristles would go.

From: http://craftsforkids.about.com/library/projects/bltoothbr1.htm

Toothbrush Painting
Materials Needed:
**Old Toothbrush
**Paint
**Paper
Instructions:
Simple... Use the toothbrush instead of a paintbrush to paint a picture! Another idea... Draw pictures of teeth on grey paper. Using the toothbrush and white paint, "clean" the teeth. When the paint dries, you can draw a happy face on the teeth pictures!
From: http://familycrafts.about.com/library/projects/bltoothbr2.htm?terms=toothbrush

Toothbrush Bracelets

These bracelets are really decorative and very environmentally friendly. Some toothbrushes work better than others, I find it easier to work with transparent ones.

This project is rated AVERAGE to do.

What You Need

Old toothbrush Tweezers or pliers Pot Tongs Large mug Oven gloves

How To Make It

Remove all the bristles from the toothbrush with tweezers or pliers. Boil water. Keep water boiling, put toothbrush in water for five minutes. Remove toothbrush with tongs, bend to desired shape. If toothbrush doesn't bend enough, submerge again in water. Remove brush and bend as much as possible. Place bent toothbrush in bottom of mug to hold it's shape while it cools. Pour cold water in mug and remove your new bracelet.
From: http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/bracelet.html

Make Your Own Tooth Fairy Pillow

Tooth Fairy Pillow Here's a project that you can make and just may be handed down to your grandchildren.

Materials Needed

Fabric Scraps - small prints or plain white PolyFill or stuffing A small scrap for pocket (3"square) Thread
Print out of Tooth Pillow Pattern Directions

Prepare pocket by pressing under 1/2" on three edges. On the top of the pocket, turn under 1/4" and 1/4" again to enclose the raw edge. Top stitch the hem into place.

Pin pocket in to place on the pillow front. Stitch 1/8" from three edges leaving the hemmed edge open.

Place wrong sides of the pillow body together.

Stitch the pieces together using a 1/4" seam allowance, from dot to dot. Leave open the small area between the dots.

Notch seam allowance at the curves.

Turn pillow right sides out. Stuff pillow.

Slipstitch opening closed.

Tips

Use lace or trim around the pocket to dress up the pillow.

Embroider eyes and nose on the pillow front, leaving the pocket as a mouth.

Embroider the childs name on the pillow.
From: http://sewing.about.com/library/weekly/aa052998.htm?terms=tooth+fairy+pillow

SMILE,February is dental health month. It is also National Heart Smart month. You may want to combine the two and do a fun unit on the body.
This next activity concentrates on dental health.
Materials
Hard boiled egg clear vinegar wide mouth jar large spoon red mouth made from construction paper (Optional) model of a tooth or diagram of a tooth
Directions
Before class pour the clear vinegar in your jar. Tape or glue the mouth to the outside of your jar. You may want to take a permanent marker and draw a tooth on your egg. If you have a model or diagram, show your students the enamel of a tooth. Have them lightly tap the outside of their own tooth. Call attention to how hard the outside of their tooth is. Now take the hard boiled egg and tell the children that it represents their tooth. Tap on the outside of the egg. Notice how hard it is. Just like the enamel of our tooth. The hard shell protects the egg and the enamel protects our tooth. Proceed to explain that we can not see plaque or germs in our mouth. Place the egg in the jar. Continue to explain that when we eat, we leave food particles on our teeth. The food we can see. Even if we drink something, the juices and food create bacteria, germs, and acid in our mouth. We can not see what is really going on in our mouth. The bacteria and germs are having a party in our mouth. They are attacking the enamel on our teeth. (If a couple of minutes have passed, take the egg out of the vinegar.) Remember how hard the shell or enamel was on our tooth? Take your thumb and slowly push into the tooth(egg). Your thumb made a cavity in your tooth. You may want to repeat this. (There should be a small hole in the shell with some discoloration in the egg.) Explain to the children that the acid, germs and bacteria in their mouth can cause a cavity if we don't brush our teeth. Our "tooth" sure looks yucky now.

From: http://www.widomaker.com/~flowers/february.htm

White Teeth
Need:
Black paper, white paint, toothbrush, and scissors.
Directions:
Cut large teeth from black construction paper and paint with white paint and a toothbrush.
From: http://www.preschooleducation.com/adental.shtml

Bright Smiles
Need:
red paper, sponges, white paint
Directions:
Cut out red smiles and have them sponge paint 10 upper teeth and 10 lower teeth. Cut sponges in little squares and attach to a clothespin. It is a nice one-to-one correspondence activity. We hung them in housekeeping with the quote, "We love our Healthy Smiles"
From: http://www.preschooleducation.com/adental.shtml

Tooth fairy bags
Need:
Felt, hole punch, scissors, plastic bag, yarn, and yarn needle.
Directions:
Make 2 Tooth shapes out of felt. Line them up. Then take the hole punch and make holes around the outside of the teeth. Now take a piece of yarn and tread it through a yarn needle. Tie a know at on end. Start at the top, right, center of the tooth. Lace all the way around the tooth. Now just before you are at the end place a small plastic bag inside the tooth. Then lace the rest of the way and tie it shut with a bow.
From: http://www.preschooleducation.com/adental.shtml

My students in the class of 2002 made me a "toothbrush lamp". They used a lamp from a department store with a white cotton type shade & hung toothbrushes (new!) from the shade like fringe. They hand painted dental homecare items on the shade as well. They used probably six brushes per shade, small table lamp. I love ith, it is in my office & the new students think it's great!! Marianne Dryer First year clinic coordinator Collin County Community College McKinney, Texas

I ran across this website http://www.schoolcrafts.net on the web the other day and you might want to add a link to it to help people get information on classroom projects.  It was really easy to understand and it was nice to visit a site that was noncommercial and not always flashing popup ads in your face every minute.

Sincerely,

Gloria Stein