Feeding Your Smile – A New Smile Scouts Storybook & Module!

With the new school year starting we are thrilled to announce that the Tooth Fairy Experience has a whole new storybook and accompanying lesson plan ready to share with students across the state of Washington. Written by Washington-based children’s book author and illustrator Kelly Rae Bahr, “Smile Scouts: A Tooth Fairy Tale” was released this summer and is the third in a suite of storybooks covering various dental care topics.

The storybook covers healthy eating and drinking habits and how they affect oral health as well as how an active lifestyle can affect your teeth and overall health. In addition to these habits, it covers using mouthguards in sports to help protect your smile. This storybook and the others are provided to all students who participate in teacher-led or Tooth Fairy-led presentations in a hard copy. However, they are available on the Tooth Fairy Experience website in a PDF format to anyone who wants to read them.

Feeding Your Smile is the third lesson plan created for the Tooth Fairy Experience by Delta Dental of Washington. It focuses on how a healthy and active lifestyle affects your oral health. It joins Caring Your Smile and The Importance of Baby Teeth as modules that are offered at no cost to teachers and school nurses in Washington state.

Since its launch in 2019, as part of Delta Dental of Washington’s vision for a cavity-free Washington, the Tooth Fairy Experience program aims to improve dental health habits at an early age, reduce the incidence of tooth decay, and increase the number of kids who regularly visit the dentist.

Teachers and school nurses wanting to educate their grades K-2 students can find all the necessary tools in the free downloads online. In addition to these resources, we also offer both virtual and in person visits from our diverse team of Tooth Fairies.

In the latest module Feeding Your Smile there are worksheets and presentations that will help engage and educate students. It illustrates how avoiding sugary drinks and candy, remembering to drink tap water, and eating fruits and veggies can all help your smile and overall health. The Tooth Fairy presentations include games for the students to play and test their knowledge. Along with all of this, the Tooth Fairies that visit will read the newest storybook to the kids.

“Programs like The Tooth Fairy Experience are great ways to get children excited about taking care of their oral health. This latest module helps children understand that their favorite sports and activities contribute to keeping their growing bodies and their teeth healthy,” said Kyle Dosch, DDS, Delta Dental of Washington’s dental director and member dentist. “Children also learn how to make healthy food and beverage choices on their own, giving them a sense of ownership over their health.”

The Tooth Fairy Experience was developed by Delta Dental of Washington in partnership with Arcora Foundation, School Nurse Organization of Washington and Washington State Dental Association – and is endorsed by the Washington Homeschool Organization. All materials have been dentist, teacher, school nurse and child reviewed.