Grandma shook her head listening to Willie say,”Grandma, do I have to go to the dentist”?
Willie called back from the other room,” Why do I have to go to the dentist, today”?
Here we go, thought Grandma Hattie, then she said. “Please come in here, Willie. I am tired of shouting back and forth.” Willie answered as he walked towards his grandma. “yes mam.”
Grandma Hattie sat Willie down and said, Willie to answer your question, do I have to go to the dentist, yes, you do”!
Willie whined as he said, “But why do I have to go to the dentist when I just went six months ago”?
Grandma really didn’t like it when Willie whined and she said, ” Willie, stop whining, nobody likes a whiner”!
Then Grandma Hattie took him through all the reasons he had to go to the dentist:
- The dentist needs to keep a close check on your teeth and gums to make sure they are healthy
- The dentist needs to find cavities while they are small and easy to take care of
- The dentist wants to make sure you know how to brush your teeth properly
- To have the cleanest and healthiest teeth, you need to have them cleaned twice a year by the dentist.
“Okay, I guess I do have to go to the dentist,” said Willie.
With his grandma’s help, Willie takes good care of his teeth just as th dentist tells him to; do you?
Let’s see how you do answering these questions:
- How many times should you brush your teeth every day?
- When should you brush your teeth each day?
- Do you have to brush all of your teeth, or just the front ones?
- How many minutes do you need spend brushing your teeth?
- How often should you get a new tooth brush?
- Why do you need to floss your teeth?
- How many times a day do you need to floss to get stuff from between your teeth that the tooth brush can’t get?
- How many times a year do you need to see the dentist?
How did you do? If you got stuck, ask a parent or big brother or sister to go over your answers with you.

It’s time to go shopping with your parents and grandparents for new shoes, and clothes, and backpacks and school supplies.