All Black captain Kieran Read made a surprise visit to his former primary school, Opaheke Primary in Papakura, to talk about oral health. Photo / Supplied
All Black captain Kieran Read made a surprise visit to his former primary school, Opaheke Primary in Papakura, to talk about oral health. Photo / Supplied
Most parents know the struggle of getting kids to brush their teeth - but one group of students may now be more enthusiastic about the task thanks to a visit from All Blacks captain Kieran Read.
Read surprised students at his old primary school, Opaheke School in Papakura, with avisit today to help them brush up on their oral health.
He surprised the students at assembly and taught a class of 7-year-olds about how sugar affects teeth using a Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures science experiment involving sugar and yeast.
When sugar was added to a mixture of yeast and warm water it foamed up - much like the way sugar in your mouth creates plaque.
Ministry of Health figures showed 29,000 children under 15 had teeth removed due to decay, abscess, infection or gum disease in 2015-16.
Over the same period, more than 6600 children under 12 needed a general anaesthetic to remove one or more rotten teeth – with the rate highest for under 10-year-olds.
