Learn · Science · Class 2

Teeth & Healthy Eating

What our teeth do, and the food that keeps us well.

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Our teeth do different jobs🦷Incisorscut and bite🦷Caninestear🦷MolarsgrindBrush twice a day, morning and night.
Incisors cut, canines tear, molars grind.
🧩 The partsLooking after teethPart 2 of 6
✏️ Worked exampleA balanced platePart 3 of 6
🔍 In detailSometimes foodPart 4 of 6
✅ SummaryHealthy smile!Part 5 of 6
A toothbrush, used last thing at night for the reason this lesson explains. Photo: Steve Buissinne, South Africa, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A toothbrush, used last thing at night for the reason this lesson explains. Photo: Steve Buissinne, South Africa, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
1📘 DefinitionPart 1 / 6

Teeth do different jobs

At the front, sharp incisors cut.

Pointed canines tear. Flat molars at the back grind.

🎯 Which teeth grind food?
2🧩 The partsPart 2 / 6

Looking after teeth

Brush twice a day: morning and before bed.

Too many sweets and fizzy drinks cause holes called cavities.

🎯 How often should you brush?
3✏️ Worked examplePart 3 / 6

A balanced plate

We need different foods, not just one.

Fruit and vegetables, roti or rice, dal or meat, milk, and plenty of water.

🎯 Which is the healthier snack?
4🔍 In detailPart 4 / 6

Sometimes food

Sweets and crisps are "sometimes" foods, small amounts, now and then.

Eating only those would make us unwell.

🎯 Sweets should be eaten…
5✅ SummaryPart 5 / 6

Healthy smile!

  • Incisors cut, canines tear, molars grind.
  • Brush twice a day.
  • Eat different foods, not just one.
6✏️ Worked examplePart 6 / 6

Watch one worked through

Here is one done slowly, with the reason for every move. Then one for you.

Let me show you

Why do dentists say to brush before bed and not only in the morning?

  1. after dinner: 🦷 + sugar
    Think about what is left on your teeth after dinner. Bits of food and sugar.
    Start with what is actually sitting on the tooth. That is what causes the harm.
  2. germs + sugar → acid → 🦷 damage
    Tiny germs feed on the sugar and make acid, which eats the hard outside of the tooth.
    It is not the sugar that makes the hole. It is the acid the germs make from it.
  3. day: spit washes acid away night: less spit → acid stays
    At night you make less spit, so the acid sits there for hours.
    Spit washes acid away during the day. At night it cannot, which is why bedtime brushing matters most.

Answer: Because food left overnight lets germs make acid, and there is less spit at night to wash it away

Now you try

What do we call the hard white outside of a tooth?

Show the answer

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