Chasing Sugar Bugs: Dental School Turns Youngsters’ Fear Into Enjoyable

Dr. Himali Patel Bhatt by no means got down to grow to be a youngsters’s e book creator. As a dentist and scientific school member on the UNLV School of Dental Medicine, her work has at all times centered on prevention, training, and empowering sufferers to care for his or her oral well being. 

But a airplane trip, motherhood, and a recent have a look at a well-known dental phrase sparked an concept that will finally land on bookshelves — and in youngsters’ bedtime routines.

Bhatt’s first youngsters’s e book, Where Do the Sugar Bugs Hide?, reimagines oral hygiene as an journey, encouraging youngsters to brush their tooth whereas easing widespread fears in regards to the dentist.

From Dental Term to Children’s Story

The concept took form whereas Bhatt was touring, when she started drafting a e book about early dental training. Her early manuscript, written underneath the working title, Where Do the Sugar Bugs Hide?, leaned closely towards technical explanations — correct, however not particularly kid-friendly.

Over the subsequent few years, Bhatt revisited the draft repeatedly, revising and setting it apart greater than as soon as. Eventually, the answer turned clear: The message wanted to be delivered as a youngsters’s story.

She started testing her concepts at residence, sharing simplified language and playful phrases along with her son. When he remarked, “Oh, Mommy is looking for sugar bugs,” the idea clicked.

“Sugar bugs,” a time period dentists usually use to explain oral micro organism, turned the e book’s central characters — a solution to flip an invisible, summary course of into an idea simple for kids to grasp.

Turning Brushing Into a Mission

Instead of fearing cavities or micro organism, her youngsters started to think about searching down sugar bugs. Candy sparked conversations about meals getting caught in tooth. Brushing turned much less of a chore and extra of a mission to brush the sugar bugs away.

Encouraged by the responses she obtained at residence, Bhatt introduced the language into her son’s classroom, speaking with college students about oral well being in easy, playful phrases. The suggestions got here rapidly — and unexpectedly — from dad and mom.

Parents shared that their youngsters had been extra wanting to brush, extra prepared to floss, and had been speaking about “sugar bugs” at residence. Some even stated their youngsters had been wanting ahead to dental visits. 

With rising curiosity and encouragement from her household — together with a nudge from her husband to take the subsequent step — Bhatt determined to pursue publication.

Building a Visual World

She quickly realized the story wanted illustrations that matched its creativeness. Balancing a full skilled schedule and two younger youngsters made carving out inventive time a problem. “You try to find a solid period of time between two kids,” she says, “but hours pass like minutes.”

Every design alternative was deliberate. The sugar bug needed to be partaking, however not so charming that youngsters would need to hold it round. Inspiration struck throughout a routine brushing second, when a small black seed fell into the sink.

“Look, Mom, I got it! I got the sugar bug!” her son stated.

That second formed the ultimate look: tiny, faceless, confetti-like sugar bugs that youngsters may simply think about brushing away. The dentist character within the e book is modeled after Bhatt herself, and she or he labored intently with the illustrator to make sure scientific accuracy.

A Book With a Bigger Goal

After exploring a number of publishing choices, Bhatt partnered with Blue Balloon Books, a writer that favors child-centered storytelling. After 5 to 6 years of improvement, Where Do the Sugar Bugs Hide?, was lastly revealed.

At its core, the e book challenges the concept that dentistry is one thing to worry. Bhatt hopes to interchange nervousness with curiosity and empower youngsters to construct wholesome habits early.

“Fear of the dentist is learned behavior,” she says. “And this book helps change that.”

Since its launch, Bhatt has shared the story at her son’s preschool, native library, and UNLV Preschool. In January, she plans to donate 20 copies of her e book to Foster Kinship and supply an academic class to oldsters with a give attention to oral well being.

She’s additionally already pondering forward. A future mission would introduce youngsters to various kinds of tooth and their roles in consuming, serving to youngsters find out about molars and incisors simply as simply as knees and elbows.

For Bhatt, all of it comes again to creating oral well being really feel approachable — and possibly even just a little enjoyable.

Sometimes, inspiring a lifetime of wholesome smiles simply takes creativeness, creativity, and some sugar bugs.