This episode of SciShow Kids is brought to you by Child and Teen Checkups.

Every kid needs a checkup at least once a year. If you live in Minnesota, Child and Teen Checkups can help.

Learn more at GetCTC.com. ♩. Hey, Squeaks! Check out what I got from the dentist!

She gave me two toothbrushes, one for you and one for me. Ooh, she gave me some toothpaste, too! It’s bubble gum-flavored!

And some floss! We got everything we need to keep our teeth clean. That’s the dentist’s job!

To make sure our teeth are healthy and help us keep them clean. [Squeaks squeaks]. Oh, the whole appointment went great, Squeaks! And my teeth feel super clean! [Squeaks squeaks].

That’s true, my teeth were already pretty clean before. We brush twice a day to keep them that way! But it’s still important to go to the dentist every few months and have them clean off anything that’s built up on your teeth over time. [Squeaks squeaks].

How did they do it? Well, the person who cleaned my teeth wasn’t actually the dentist herself, she was a dental hygienist. They’re someone who went to a special school for learning how to clean and take care of teeth.

And she did a few different things to get them all clean! The first thing she did was use a little scraping tool called a scaler to get rid of any plaque on my teeth. Plaque is the stuff that builds up on your teeth after you eat, and we brush and floss to get rid of it.

Even with really careful brushing and flossing, there can be some left over on your teeth, and it hardens over time, so you need something stronger than a toothbrush to get it off. That’s why the hygienist scrapes it off with the scaler. Next, she took out an electric tool. [Squeaks squeaks].

I was a little nervous at first, so I asked the hygienist what it was for. She said it was just an electric version of the scaler she was using before, which helps clean off your teeth really well! It made kind of a loud noise, but it didn’t hurt, and it sprayed some water while she was using it, which was kind of fun.

Oh, and she also put a little tube in my mouth that worked kind of like a tiny vacuum to suck up all the water! That was pretty fun, too. And you know what happened next, after the scaling was all done? [Squeaks squeaks].

The hygienist brought out another electric tool! She said this one was called a polisher, and it worked by spraying some air and water to smooth out and shine my teeth now that they were all cleaned off. After that, she was almost done.

The next step was brushing my teeth! [Squeaks squeaks]. Yup, just like we do at home! She used a regular toothbrush and a special type of toothpaste, then some floss.

Finally, my teeth were all done. Touching them with my tongue is kind of weird now, but cool — they’re so smooth! Then it was time to take some X-rays, which are really just pictures they take with a special kind of camera that can see through your teeth!

Once we had the X-ray pictures, the dentist came in to check out both the pictures and my actual teeth. She was looking to see if I had any cavities. A cavity is a small hole you can get in your teeth from that plaque I mentioned before.

If you don’t clean it off well, it sort of eats away at your teeth, and eventually you get cavities. Lots of people get cavities, and the dentist can fix them, but by keeping our teeth clean we can avoid getting too many of them. The dentist let me look at my X-rays, which was super cool!

I got to see the inside of my teeth and, best of all, she said I didn’t have any cavities! [Squeaks squeaks]. And that was it! The dentist gave me this great goody bag, and it was time to go home!

You know, one of the main reasons kids miss school is because of issues with their teeth, which is why it’s important to get a dental checkup every six months. Even baby teeth need checkups, starting when that first tooth comes in! Dental disease is no fun, but you can prevent it by spotting the warning signs early, and keeping those smiles beautiful.

If you live in Minnesota, you can learn more at GetCTC.com. If you live somewhere else in the United States, you can click the the link in the description to learn more about the benefits that may be available to you. ♩.