This morning as I was brushing my teeth, I remembered a picture I took when I went to Japan several years ago. Japan has a national health plan and one of the ways they strive to control health costs is to teach children healthy habits. One of those habits is to brush their teeth after meals. Each child brought to school a small cloth sack containing a tooth brush, a small travel size tube of toothpaste and a cup. All of the children's toothbrush sacks were hanging outside their classroom door next to the sink on coat hooks. After lunch, everyone went to the sinks where they brushed their teeth.
Brushing my own teeth caused made me to wonder how many of my students have dental insurance? I remember a few students going to the dentist this year, but not many. True, most of the appointments were probably made outside school hours and so I never knew about them but through all the years that I have taught, I see more and more families who do not have health or dental insurance and therefore never go to the doctor or dentist. And the numbers increase as the economy continues to slow down.
Then I started thinking about all the spare fabric and remnants that I have in my craft closet that could easily be turned into small "dental health" sacks. I wondered how parents would react if I asked them to bring a toothbrush and paste to put in the sacks so we could brush our teeth this year.
Hmmmm... Shall I???
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