Dentists Help

Our Community Helpers

by Dee Ready

Dentists keep our teeth healthy. Learn about a dentist's tools, workplace, and role in the community.

24 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Dee Ready is the author of two gift books for cat lovers: "A Cat’s Life: Dulcy’s Story" and "A Cat’s Legacy: Dulcy’s Companion Book." Her latest book—"Prayer Wasn’t Enough"—is a memoir about her years in a Benedictine convent during the 1950s and ‘60s. After leaving the convent, she became actively involved in protesting the Vietnam War, seeking civil rights for minorities, volunteering at an AIDS clinic, marching for animal rights, and serving as an election judge. Retired now, she lives in a suburb of the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read via FaceTime with grandma and Papa for nighttime storytime

[Rebecca Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose the fiction book "Arthur's Tooth" by Marc Brown to pair with this book. I chose it because I feel like going to the dentist is something that most kids worry about or are horribly afraid of. Dee Ready wrote "Dentists Help" very simply to explain the role of dentists in a positive way and each photo reflects a positive experience. In the book "Arthur's Tooth", Arthur struggles to lose a baby tooth and is embarrassed when he is one of the last ones to lose a tooth in his class. His parents tell him he needs to go to the dentist and his friends make him so nervous that he imagines a scary monster dentist. He finds that once he gets there he has something in common with his dentist and he is actually very nice. I think that even though it is a short portion of the book, there is still the connection that dentists are there to help us, even if some might find them to be scary, they are there to keep us healthy.
I think it would be interesting to ask students if they have ever been to the dentist before reading "Arthur's Tooth. Then I would ask the students why Arthur was afraid of the dentist after reading the story. I would conclude the lesson with reading "Dentists Help" to show students real life dentists and to help them learn terms and facts about their oral health.

[Dr. Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good non-fiction review of dentists, what they do, and equipment found in the dental office.
Photographs of dentists and equipment are good visual preparation for a child's office visit. I like the flow of content, which starts with what dentists do, followed by the equipment used, and finally where they work. One helpful page explains why dentists where gloves and masks, protective clothing that sometimes scares children in the office.
When reading to very young children, you may need extra time to explain the content further.

Reading Level: Intermediate or parent-read. Intermediate readers should understand how to use a glossary, and will likely need help sounding-out some words, such "Orthodontist" and "Pediatric."
Photographs, no illustrations.