Dental Health Books for Kindergarten

A dental health unit is a great option for a kindergarten classroom during Dental Health Month in February. Many young students haven’t visited the dentist before or might have some lingering apprehension from a previous visit. You can take this opportunity to help students learn more about the importance of visiting the dentist. One of my favorite ways to do this is with read alouds! Keep reading for some of my favorite dental health books for kindergarten.

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6 Dental Health Books for Kindergarten

These book suggestions are a great addition to any dental health unit for kindergarten! A fun new unit can help you and your students battle the winter slump.

1. Going to the Dentist by R.J. Macready

I love to start any unit by reading a nonfiction book. This helps to activate prior knowledge for students and it also introduces them to new concepts and vocabulary in an engaging way.

For Dental Health Month, this book by R.J. Macready is a great introduction to a dental visit. It uses actual photographs to explain the different staff members in a dental office, what the dentist will do during the visit and what instruments they use. Students who have been to the dentist before will be eager to add to the discussion as you read through the book. This can provide a great opportunity to compare and contrast; students can point out similarities and differences between the book and their experience at the dentist.

2. Pout-Pout Fish Goes to the Dentist by Deborah Diesen

In this book, Mr. Fish has a long to-do list with a visit to the dentist at the very bottom. As Mr. Fish works through his list, he starts to mention to the friends he meets that he might not have time to make it to the dentist. His friends reassure them that visiting the dentist is important and recommend that he put his visit higher on the priority list.

This is a great book for students who feel apprehensive about going to the dentist. It shares many different benefits of visiting the dentist. It also gives students another chance to hear about what happens during a dental visit and hear new vocabulary words.

3. Bear’s Loose Tooth by Karma Wilson

This book doesn’t reference the dentist, but it talks about teeth so it’s still a great for dental health month. The story follows Bear through his experience of having a loose tooth. He is very nervous about what will happen when he loses a tooth. Will he still be able to eat? His friends reassure him and try to help him pull the tooth without success. When his tooth finally comes out, he goes to bed and gets a visit from the Tooth Fairy.

This book is a great read aloud because you can incorporate many different literacy skills like making predictions, rhyming, and sequencing. For students who have already lost a tooth, it’s also a great book for making connections to the story.

4. Tooth Trouble by Jane Clarke

Wilbur the walrus has a sore tusk that is making it hard to eat his favorite shellfish. His mom and friends tell Wilbur that he needs to go to the dentist to get help with his sore tusk, but Wilbur doesn’t want to! Wilbur ends up visiting his grandpa, where he is told again that he needs to visit the dentist. This time Wilbur is convinced to get the help he needs. After a successful visit to the dentist, Wilbur even encourages his grandpa to give it a try!

This is another engaging story that can be helpful for students who feel apprehensive about going to the dentist. This is especially true for students who don’t get regular check-ups. It feels like a bigger deal the longer they go between visits! A book like this can be a helpful reminder that check-ups can help prevent bigger tooth issues.

5. Doctor De Soto by William Steig

This is one of my favorite stories for any time of the year, but especially for Dental Health Month. In this story, Doctor De Soto runs a popular dentist office with his wife. Being a mouse, he has one well-advertised rule: No cats or any other animals that would want to eat mice.

A fox really needs help from the dentist and begs for mercy. Doctor De Soto reluctantly agrees to help but, as the fox starts to show his true colors, the mice need to come up with a clever plan to finish the treatment without being eaten.  At this point in the story, you could stop for a moment and ask students to predict what the mice will do to protect themselves. Their responses are always so clever!

Your students will be on the edge of their seats as you read this story together as a class! They always love to see how Doctor De Soto outsmarts the hungry Mr. Fox. 

6. Curious George Visits the Dentist by Monica Perez

One of my favorite things about a book series is that the characters become so familiar to students. When these fictional friends go through relatable experiences, it can be help students feel less apprehensive about doing the same.

In this story, our familiar friend Curious George has a tooth problem and needs to visit the dentist. George is very reluctant to visit the dentist and eventually leaves the exam room, starting a chain reaction of his usual mischief. The story ends with a successful turn in the dentist's chair and George decides the dentist’s office isn’t such a bad place after all.

Take a Closer Look at These Dental Health Read Alouds

If you would like to take a closer look at these dental health books, check out this video! I flip through the pages of each book so you can decide which read alouds would be the best option for your students.

Save These Kindergarten Dental Health Books

Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! You’ll be able to quickly find these read aloud ideas when you’re working on your Dental Health Month lesson plans.