Sugar and Teeth Nina and the Neurons

# If you've got a question and you don't know where to go

# Ask Nina for some help Cos she's got a science show

# She makes sense of her senses While helping all her fans

# By doing her experiments with potions and with bangs

-# Touch your tongue

-Tongue!

-# Fingers

-Fingers!

-# Eyes.

-Eyes!

-Ears.

-Ears!

-Nose.

-Nose!

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Luke, he helps us with our eyes and Felix with our touch

# Ollie sniffs out smells And Belle, she hears so much

# Bud is Ollie's brother He helps us with our taste

# They're Nina's little neurons And they're coming to your place!

-# Touch your tongue

-Tongue!

-# Fingers

-Fingers!

-# Eyes.

-Eyes!

-Ears.

-Ears!

-Nose.

-Nose!

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Oh yeah! #

NINA GIGGLES

Oh, hello. I'm just giving Mr Skeleton's teeth a good brush.

It's very important to keep our teeth clean.

-BEEPING

-Oh.

I hear a beep, I see a flash. I wonder what they're going to ask.

ALL: Hi, Nina!

Hi, guys!

-We've got a question for you.

-Why is sugar bad for our teeth?

That's a brilliant question. Why is sugar bad for our teeth? Oh!

Why don't you come to my lab and we'll investigate.

ALL: See you soon, Nina. Bye!

Bye!

I'll need help to answer this and I know just who to ask.

OK, neurons, time to get to work.

ALL: Neurons at the ready, Nina.

OK. Today's question is, why is sugar bad for our teeth?

Which neuron will be most useful to help find the answer?

ALL: Me! Me! Me! Oh, me!

Will it be fabulous Felix?

I can help so very much if you need the sense of touch.

will it be beautiful Belle?

I send messages to brain from ear. If there's a sound, I'll help you hear.

Will it be lovely Luke?

For looking and seeing, day or night,

I'll help you with your sense of sight.

Will it be awesome Ollie?

If it's pongy or whiffy but you can't tell,

-my messages help your sense of smell.

-Or will it be baby Bud?

Sour, salty, bitter or sweet, I'm your taste buddy whenever you eat!

-It's Bud!

-Yippee!

CHEERING

ALL: Go, Bud! Go, Bud! Go, Bud! Go, Bud! Go, Bud! Go, Bud! Go, Bud!

SLURP Give me a taste of the action, Nina!

Today's question is, why is sugar bad for our teeth?

Sugar is something we taste, so Bud, our taste neuron will help.

I need to get the lab ready before the Experimenters arrive.

Nidhi likes writing stories, Holly loves gymnastics

and Slaley likes dinosaurs.

They all want to know about sugar and teeth.

Today, Nidhi, Holly and Slaley become the Experimenters!

-Hi, guys.

-ALL: Hi, Nina!

Welcome to my lab. In you come.

Lovely to see you all.

You asked, why is sugar bad for our teeth?

-It's a great question. Why do you want to know?

-Cos we get told

to not eat too many sweets cos they're bad for our teeth.

And we want to know why.

Sweets do have a lot of sugar in them, which can be bad for teeth.

But let's find out why.

For our first experiment, we'll use our senses.

ALL: Whoop-whoo! A senses experiment! We're ready, Nina!

Who here brushes their teeth really well?

ALL: Me! NINA LAUGHS

I'm really glad to hear that. We should brush at least twice a day.

In the morning, and just before bed.

Brushing our teeth gets rid of bits of food that we've eaten

and something else, too, called plaque.

"Plaque". I've never heard that word before.

Plaque can make our teeth feel a bit slimy.

Let's roll our tongue over our teeth and see how they feel.

Mine feel a wee bit slimy. Do yours?

ALL: Yes.

That slimy feeling is plaque building up on our teeth.

It stays there until we brush it away.

So we can feel plaque but can we see it?

Say, "cheese!"

ALL: Cheese!

All I can see are lovely white teeth. I don't see any plaque at all.

That's because plaque is white and so are our teeth

so we can't see it. But I know a way we can turn it a different colour.

By chewing these. They're clever tablets from the dentist that

find plaque and make it a different colour, so we can see it.

Nina knows these tablets are safe,

but you should never take tablets on your own.

Let's chew.

OK, all done.

Well, let's take a look. Smile, everyone!

Ha-ha-ha-ha! Their teeth are all blue!

So we can certainly see where the plaque is now!

From our experiment, we've learned that plaque forms on our teeth.

But what does plaque have to do with sugar being so bad for our teeth?

We need to do another experiment,

-after we've brushed our teeth.

-ALL: Yes!

This test tube has water and sugar in it

and this test tube has water and plaque in it.

I'm going to add in a special liquid.

This will make both mixtures turn yellow.

Now, watch what happens

when I mix some sugar into the test tube with plaque.

-So, has it changed colour?

-ALL: Yes.

-And what colour has it changed to?

-Pink.

-Red.

Yeah, it's a reddy pink.

Because when we mix sugar and plague together, an acid is being made.

The pink colour tells us there is an acid in the test tube.

It's acid that can harm our teeth.

What does acid do, Nina?

To find out more about acid, we'll go somewhere where they make

a very special type of picture.

Let's go, Experimenters!

Here we go!

I can't wait to see where we'll end up today!

Nina said we were going somewhere where they made pictures.

Maybe Nina's having her picture taken with the Experimenters.

Listen up, guys. We're here!

-Hi, Helen.

-Hello, everybody.

We've come here to have a very special picture made.

It's special because it's made using a type of acid.

Have you got a picture for us to print?

-I've got this - a very, very good picture.

-Bud!

-Baby Bud!

Luke! Look, it's ME!

-It IS Bud. There you go, Helen.

-Thank you.

What IS she doing?

She's using special liquid to paint onto a metal sheet, Ollie.

Metal's usually hard and strong, isn't it?

ALL: Yes, Nina.

That's done.

We'll have to put on some safety clothing for the next stage.

You guys look brilliant!

These visors and safety goggles will keep our eyes safe.

Why is the artist putting it in the water?

That's not water, Bud. It's actually a type of acid.

Some acids are weak, like lemon juice or vinegar,

and are safe to touch and eat,

Some acids are very strong and dangerous. So we're wearing these.

Helen's put the picture in the acid

-because it does something special to the metal.

-Look!

-There are bubbles on the metal!

-That's right.

They show us that something is happening to the metal.

That's because the acid used here is very strong

so it eats away at the metal and makes bits disappear.

There are no bubbles in the places painted black.

Do you see how the acid has eaten away at the metal

where it wasn't covered, and the special black stuff?

ALL: Yes.

-Would you like to put your picture onto paper, Nina?

-Yes, please!

First, we need to cover Bud in blue ink.

Helen's using a machine to print Bud's picture.

You look great, Bud.

I'm a work of art!

Oh, thank you SO much!

-That's brilliant, isn't it?

-ALL: Yes.

We've learned that some acids are really strong

and can eat away at hard metal.

Come on, guys. Let's go back to the lab for one more experiment.

Your question was, why is sugar bad for our teeth?

So far we've discovered we get plaque on our teeth,

and when sugar mixes with plaque,

it makes an acid. Now we want to know what acid does to teeth.

Let's get experimenting!

ALL: Yeah!

For this experiment, I need four teeth.

You don't have any wobbly ones, do you?

NINA LAUGHS

I'm only joking.

I have some here.

Oh, no! Some of Nina's teeth have fallen out!

Don't worry, Bud, they're not real.

They're made from chalk, like the chalk sticks we can draw with.

For this experiment, we'll PRETEND they're real.

We'll have one tooth each. Can you pass that round for me, please?

Let's pop them into the beaker and see what happens.

Mine's not doing anything. What about yours?

-Mine's disappearing.

-So is mine.

-Mine's broken in little pieces.

So they are. You can hardly see any tooth at all!

That's because in your beakers was some vinegar,

which is an acid, and that's eaten away at the chalk really quickly.

But in my beaker, there's just water,

so nothing's happened at all, see?

Although our teeth are much stronger than chalk,

eventually, if we eat a lot of sugar,

the acid made will eat away at your teeth, too.

Your question was, why is sugar bad for our teeth?

And I think we've answered it.

We learnt that our mouths make plaque that forms on our teeth,

and when sugar mixes with it, an acid is made.

There are lots of types of acid -

some are weak and safe to touch and eat,

but some are dangerous and can even eat away at really hard metal.

The acid made when sugar mixes with plaque

can damage our teeth over time,

making them brown, making holes in them,

or even making them fall out!

That's why we shouldn't eat too much sugar and always brush our teeth.

-ALL: Thanks, Nina! We will. Bye!

-Bye!

Bye!

If you want to know more about the science all around us,

go to the Nina section on the CBeebies website! Have fun!

Lab coat on, Nina?

Lab coat on, Ollie.

Safety gloves on, Nina?

Safety gloves on, Felix.

Don't forget your goggles, Nina.

Goggles are on, Luke. I think we're ready!

# We do experiments in the lab

# Shooby-dooby, in the lab

# Bubbling experiments in the lab

# In the lab!

# Go, Nina, in the lab

# Fizzing and popping Steam and smoke

# We need protection Don't we, folks?

# We always put our safety first

# Shooby-dooby, dooby-dooby

# We do experiments in the lab

# In the lab!

# Go, Nina! #

I've had a brilliant day!

Hearing all that lovely giggling when the Experimenters' teeth went blue!

It's been a marvellous day.

Finding out about how plaque and sugar can hurt our teeth!

Ahh, it's been such a great day, man!

Seeing how they made that picture of Bud. That was pretty cool!

I've had a fabby day!

Sweeties might taste nice, but you shouldn't eat too many of them!

Our day's been bursting with experiments.

I hope you've enjoyed it. See you soon!

-Bye!

-ALL: Bye!

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