Pre-K · Visiting the dentist
Meet the Dentist
The dentist is a friendly tooth helper! Ride the magic chair, count teeth together, and find out there's nothing scary about a checkup.
What you'll learn
- Students will name the dentist as a friendly helper who keeps teeth healthy.
- Students will describe two things that happen at the dentist — riding the chair up and counting teeth.
- Students will practice opening wide and saying "ahh" for a pretend checkup.
Knock, knock — who helps your teeth stay strong and shiny? The dentist, your friendly tooth helper!
What happens at the dentist?
A visit to the dentist is like a little adventure:
- You ride the magic chair. It goes up, up, up — wheee!
- You open wide and say “ahh.” The dentist shines a little light and looks at your teeth with a tiny mirror.
- The dentist counts your teeth. One, two, three… all the way to every tooth! The dentist also makes sure each one is growing just right.
- Sometimes teeth get a gentle clean — it tickles a little, and that’s all.
Nothing scary here
The dentist’s office is full of friendly things: comfy chairs, bright lights, tiny mirrors, and helpers who love kids’ smiles. Feeling a little shy is OK! Dentists who take care of children know just how to help kids feel brave. And guess what — even little-little kids visit the dentist, starting when their very first teeth arrive.
The dentist is on your smile team, just like your grown-ups and your toothbrush. Visit, open wide, count teeth — and leave with a super smile!
Now play the little quiz below with your grown-up or teacher. Say “ahh”!
Print & go
Printables for this lesson
The educator plan includes objectives, standards, the step-by-step lesson, and a paper pre/post knowledge check with answer key. The family sheet is bilingual — English and Español on one page.
Standards alignment
Sources
Every health claim in this lesson comes from a primary source and is clinically reviewed before publication.
- Source: ADA MouthHealthy — Your Baby's First Dental Visitaccessed 2026-07-28
- Source: American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry — Parent FAQaccessed 2026-07-28
Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — free for schools and families to use, share, and adapt with credit (non-commercial, share-alike).
Healthy Smiles. Brighter Futures. · atomicsmile.org/learn
Meet the Dentist — Educator Lesson Plan
Learning objectives
- Students will name the dentist as a friendly helper who keeps teeth healthy.
- Students will describe two things that happen at the dentist — riding the chair up and counting teeth.
- Students will practice opening wide and saying "ahh" for a pretend checkup.
Standards alignment (NHES)
- NHES 1.2.1 — Identify that healthy behaviors impact personal health. (Standard 1, Pre-K–Grade 2, NHES 2nd ed., 2007)
- NHES 7.2.1 — Demonstrate healthy practices and behaviors to maintain or improve personal health. (Standard 7, Pre-K–Grade 2, NHES 2nd ed., 2007)
Materials
- A chair for the pretend dentist office, plus a flashlight and a spoon "mirror"
- A stuffed animal patient with a big smile
- Picture book or photos of a friendly dental visit — optional
- Printed pre/post knowledge checks from this packet (one per child, read aloud, used twice)
Procedure
- Pre-check (3 min): read each question aloud and let children point or answer together. Collect the sheets to compare after.
- Warm-up (2 min): who has heard of the dentist? The dentist is a tooth helper — like a coach for smiles!
- Pretend visit (5 min): set up the chair. One at a time (or with the stuffed animal), children ride the "magic chair" (it goes up, up, up!), open wide, say "ahh," and the teacher-dentist counts teeth out loud with the spoon mirror.
- Feelings check (2 min): was anything scary? Nope — the light is bright, the chair is comfy, and the dentist just looks and counts. It's OK to feel shy; dentists are used to helping kids feel brave.
- Wrap-up (1 min): the dentist helps our teeth stay strong — we visit, we open wide, we get a healthy smile!
- Post-check (2 min): read the same questions aloud again and celebrate how much everyone knows now.
Knowledge check — photocopy this page
Give the same check before and after the lesson; class totals before vs. after give you a measurable outcome for reports and grants.
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________ ☐ Before the lesson ☐ After the lesson
- Who is the dentist?
- A friendly tooth helper
- A scary monster
- A mail carrier
- What does the magic chair do?
- It flies to the moon
- It goes up, up, up
- It turns into a boat
- What do you say when the dentist looks at your teeth?
- Shhh
- Moo
- Ahh
- What does the dentist do with your teeth?
- Counts them and checks they’re growing right
- Paints them purple
- Takes them home
- Is it OK to feel a little shy at the dentist?
- No, never
- Yes — and dentists help kids feel brave
- Only on Tuesdays
Answer key — teacher page
1. a · 2. b · 3. c · 4. a · 5. b
Sources
- ADA MouthHealthy — Your Baby's First Dental Visit — https://www.mouthhealthy.org/life-stages/babies-and-kids/first-dental-visit-for-baby (accessed 2026-07-28)
- American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry — Parent FAQ — https://www.aapd.org/resources/parent/faq/ (accessed 2026-07-28)
Healthy Smiles. Brighter Futures. · atomicsmile.org/learn
Meet the Dentist
Tonight's healthy habit
Dental visits start early — by the first birthday, and checkups about every six months after that. Before a visit, talk about it in a happy, simple way and practice opening wide at home; a calm, matter-of-fact grown-up makes for a brave kid. It's normal for little ones to wiggle or cry, and dentists who see children are ready for that.
Try it tonight
Set up a pretend dentist office at home: your child rides up in a chair, opens wide, says "ahh," and you count their teeth out loud with a spoon. Then switch — let them count your teeth. End with a high-five and a sticker if you have one!
El hábito saludable de hoy
Las visitas al dentista empiezan temprano — para el primer cumpleaños, y luego revisiones más o menos cada seis meses. Antes de la visita, hablen de ella con alegría y palabras sencillas y practiquen abrir grande la boca en casa; una persona grande tranquila hace a un niño valiente. Es normal que los pequeños se muevan o lloren, y los dentistas que atienden niños están preparados para eso.
Pruébalo esta noche
Armen un consultorio de dentista en casa: su hijo o hija sube a la silla, abre grande, dice "ahh," y usted cuenta sus dientes en voz alta con una cuchara. Luego cambien — que le cuente los dientes a usted. ¡Terminen chocando los cinco y con una calcomanía si tienen una!
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