NURSERY children have learnt about the importance of looking after their pearly whites and practice the techniques of brushing them on specialist props.

Youngsters from Yarlside Nursery, situated on Red Oak Avenue in Roose, Barrow have been having fun getting to know all about their teeth and how to manage their own personal hygiene.

Nursery teacher Kathryn Turner introduced the pupils to the topic and his been running this workshop with previous classes for over 20 years.

She said: “Even though it’s part of the early years curriculum we should teach, it’s something I think is really important they know at their age.

“Brushing teeth is a big issue with children their age as they need the help and supervision to make sure they’re doing it correctly as dental hygiene is so important.

“We were leant some props by an ex-parent who would usually come in once a year to deliver the lesson and talk to the children about how to clean their teeth properly and why it’s important but she couldn’t make it this time round unfortunately.

“The soft toys have big teeth so we teach the children how much toothpaste to use and how long they should brush their teeth for.

“We have timers to make sure they do it for two minutes.

“We make it fun for them and practical.”

The session also looked at dentistry as a profession, who they are and what they do. The class were shown video clips of children going to a dental practice for the first time.

Kathryn said: “Children need to experience what it’s like going to the dentist the first time as it has this stigma of being a really scary place to go to and we don’t want them having that anxiety for when they go.

“They all listened and had fun while learning.”