Pre-K · Cavities
Sugar Bugs and Baby Teeth
Sugar bugs love sweet sips and long naps on teeth — but brushing sweeps them away! Little learners find out how to keep baby teeth safe and strong.
What you'll learn
- Students will repeat that sugar bugs (the sticky stuff on teeth) love sweet drinks and treats.
- Students will show how brushing sweeps sugar bugs away.
- Students will state that water is the drink for sipping all day and at bedtime.
Shhh… want to hear a secret? Tiny sugar bugs would love to take a nap on your teeth! Grown-ups call them plaque. But don’t worry — you’re about to become a sugar-bug sweeper.
What sugar bugs love
Sugar bugs love sweet things: candy, cookies, and sweet drinks like juice. Every sweet sip is like a snack delivery for the bugs. And their favorite trick? Sweet drinks at bedtime — then they get to nap on your teeth all night long. No way, bugs!
How to win against sugar bugs
Good news: sugar bugs are easy to beat.
- Sweep them away! Brushing with your grown-up, morning and night, sweeps the bugs right off. Sweep, sweep, sweep!
- Sip water. Water is the drink for all day and bedtime — it never feeds a single bug.
- Save sweets for sometimes. Treats visit with meals, and then… you guessed it. Brush time!
Your baby teeth are little treasures — they chew your food and save seats for your grown-up teeth. Keep the sugar bugs off, and your treasures stay strong and shiny.
Ready, sweeper? Play the little quiz below with your grown-up or teacher!
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 — Tooth Decay with Baby Bottlesaccessed 2026-07-28
- Source: AAP HealthyChildren.org — Why It's Important to Take Care of Baby Teethaccessed 2026-07-28
- Source: ADA MouthHealthy — Plaqueaccessed 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
Sugar Bugs and Baby Teeth — Educator Lesson Plan
Learning objectives
- Students will repeat that sugar bugs (the sticky stuff on teeth) love sweet drinks and treats.
- Students will show how brushing sweeps sugar bugs away.
- Students will state that water is the drink for sipping all day and at bedtime.
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 big tooth drawing and small "sugar bug" stickers or paper dots
- A toy broom or a big demonstration toothbrush, for the sweep-away game
- A water cup and a juice box for the bedtime-drink vote
- 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): whisper the secret — there are tiny sugar bugs that want to nap on our teeth! What do we do? (Gasp!) We sweep them away!
- Sticker game (4 min): put sugar-bug stickers on the big tooth every time the class names a sweet treat. Look how they pile up after lots of sweet sips!
- Sweep-away (3 min): children take turns "brushing" the bugs off the big tooth while everyone chants "Sweep, sweep, sweep the sugar bugs away!"
- Bedtime vote (2 min): hold up the water cup and the juice box — which one goes to bed with us? Water! Sweet drinks at bedtime let sugar bugs nap on teeth all night.
- 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
- What do sugar bugs love to eat?
- Sweet treats and sweet drinks
- Broccoli
- Toothbrushes
- How do we sweep sugar bugs away?
- With a blanket
- Brushing with a grown-up, morning and night
- By shouting at them
- Which drink goes to bed with you?
- Juice
- Soda
- Water
- What do grown-ups call the sugar bugs?
- Glitter
- Plaque
- Frosting
- Why are baby teeth little treasures?
- They are made of gold
- They are not treasures
- They chew food and save seats for grown-up teeth
Answer key — teacher page
1. a · 2. b · 3. c · 4. b · 5. c
Sources
- ADA MouthHealthy — Tooth Decay with Baby Bottles — https://www.mouthhealthy.org/all-topics-a-z/baby-bottle-tooth-decay (accessed 2026-07-28)
- AAP HealthyChildren.org — Why It's Important to Take Care of Baby Teeth — https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/teething-tooth-care/Pages/How-to-Prevent-Tooth-Decay-in-Your-Baby.aspx (accessed 2026-07-28)
- ADA MouthHealthy — Plaque — https://www.mouthhealthy.org/all-topics-a-z/plaque (accessed 2026-07-28)
Healthy Smiles. Brighter Futures. · atomicsmile.org/learn
Sugar Bugs and Baby Teeth
Tonight's healthy habit
Sugary drinks that linger on teeth — especially bottles or sippy cups at bedtime — set the stage for tooth decay in baby teeth. Make water the bedtime and all-day drink, save juice for rare treats, and brush teeth before bed so nothing sweet sleeps on them.
Try it tonight
Play "sweep the sugar bugs" at brushing time: pretend the day's treats left tiny bugs napping on the teeth, and let your child sweep every one away with the brush while you cheer each "swoosh!"
El hábito saludable de hoy
Las bebidas azucaradas que se quedan en los dientes — sobre todo el biberón o el vasito a la hora de dormir — preparan el camino para las caries en los dientes de leche. Haga del agua la bebida de la noche y de todo el día, deje el jugo para ocasiones raras, y cepille los dientes antes de dormir para que nada dulce duerma sobre ellos.
Pruébalo esta noche
Jueguen a "barrer los bichitos de azúcar" en el cepillado: imaginen que los dulces del día dejaron bichitos dormiditos en los dientes, y deje que su hijo o hija los barra todos con el cepillo mientras usted celebra cada "¡zas!"
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