Sugar Bugsthe back teeth count too

How to play

1. Twelve teeth, two rows. Sugar bugs land on them and get bigger.
2. Tap a bug to brush it off. A small bug goes in one tap. A big one needs two.
3. A bug that grows all the way turns the tooth gray. That's a cavity. Three and the brushing is over.
4. 60 seconds of brush time. The back teeth (the big flat ones at the ends) get the most bugs, because that's where food hides.

The real-life version

• Two minutes, morning and night. The game is one minute because it's a game.
• Front, back, and the chewing tops of every tooth. The back teeth are the ones kids skip.
• Pea of toothpaste. Spit, don't rinse it all away.
• Sugar bugs are real. They eat sugar and make acid, and the acid makes the hole.

For grown-ups and teachers

First pass. The habit being drilled is look at every tooth, especially the ones in the back. The spawn table is weighted so the molars get bugs twice as often, which is where kids skip in real life. Nothing is tracked or sent anywhere.

Talk about it after

• "Which teeth got the cavities? Where were they?"
• "Open up. Which of your teeth are the back ones?"
• "What do sugar bugs eat?" (Sugar. Then they make acid.)