A Fun Experiment to Teach Children About Dental Health

February is Children’s Dental Health Month, making it the perfect time to review with your child or young loved one about the importance of dental health. When a child is young, they are limited in what they can do to care for their teeth, but they can be shown the proper methods for cleaning teeth, and proper healthy foods to help keep their teeth sparkly white and avoid dental decay. 

To celebrate healthy teeth, we wanted to share a fun experiment that you can do with your child or young loved one to show the importance of proper brushing and how what you eat and drink can really affect your teeth. 

Materials Needed:

1. 2 hard boiled eggs
2. 1 raw egg
3. Coffee or tea
4. Dark soft drink such as coke, pepsi, or root beer
5. White vinegar
6. 3 clear plastic cups
7. Toothbrush and toothpaste
8. Spoon

Steps for the Experiment:

1. Place the 3 eggs in the plastic cups.
2. Pour the coffee or tea over one hardboiled egg and the dark colored soft drink over the other hard boiled egg, being sure to completely cover the egg. Pouring the white vinegar over the raw egg, completely covering it.
3. After a few hours, lift the eggs gently with the spoon to check the progress. The child can observe and comment on what they see.
4. Place the eggs back into the cups and allow the liquid to remain over the egg overnight. 
5. In the morning, remove the eggs totally from the liquid and make observations.
6. Using the toothbrush and toothpaste, gently clean the hard boiled eggs to see if they can come clean. You will not be able to clean the raw egg.

What You Will Find:

The purpose of this experiment is to show children the effect of eating and drinking on your teeth. The eggs that were submerged in the dark liquids will be totally stained within minutes and will continue to darken overnight. This demonstrates what drinking soda can do to your teeth. Using the toothbrush and toothpaste will begin to clean the eggs, showing how important brushing teeth can be. The shell of the egg that was submerged in white vinegar will mostly be dissolved, leaving the membrane, egg white, and yolk of the egg. This is a perfect example of what can happen to the enamel of your teeth if not cleaned properly. The hard outer shell dissolves, leaving the soft inside exposed to the outside environment, allowing for decay. 

We hope that you enjoy completing this experiment with your loved ones. If you are located in the Terre Haute, IN area and have any questions about children’s oral health, if you are concerned that your child is suffering from tooth decay, or if your child is in need of a dental cleaning and examination, please give us a call today!