New resources for National Children’s Dental Health Month available

Posters, coloring sheets, more highlight the year-round importance of good oral health

Every day should be about children’s dental health.

This is the message behind the ADA’s National Children’s Dental Health Month resources for 2025. Observed nationally each February, the recognition brings together thousands of dedicated professionals, health care providers and educators to promote the benefits of good oral health to children, their caregivers, teachers and many others.

The ADA is offering new materials to celebrate and promote the importance of children’s dental health, not only during the month of February, but all year.

Posters and flyers emphasizing the importance of brushing are available for free download in two kid-friendly, topical designs and two sizes, 8.5"x11" and 11"x17". Matching coloring sheets are offered in 8.5"x11". All materials have instructions for proper brushing and are available in English and Spanish from ADA.org/NCDHM.

In addition, the ADA’s 2025 Brushing Calendar is available for free download. This 12-month calendar is valuable year-round for promoting healthy behaviors like brushing twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste to help prevent dental disease. Kids can track their daily brushing and flossing routines and exercise their creativity by coloring the calendar image for each month.

Another tool, the NCDHM Program Planning Guide, provides resources for program coordinators, dental societies, teachers and parents to promote the benefits of good oral health to children. The guide includes easy-to-do activities, program planning tips, a sample NCDHM proclamation and more.

“The sooner children understand the value of good oral health habits, the more likely they are to continue these habits well into adulthood,” said ADA President Brett Kessler, D.D.S. “The ADA is proud that NCDHM will once again equip some of the most influential figures in kids’ lives — like parents, educators and health care providers — to help set our nation’s kids on the path to a lifetime of healthy smiles and healthier lives.”

National Children’s Dental Health Month observances began with a one-day event in Cleveland and a one-week celebration in Akron, Ohio, in February 1941. Since then, the concept has evolved into a nationwide program.

The ADA held the first national observance of Children’s Dental Health Day on Feb. 8, 1949. The one-day event became a weeklong event in 1955, and in 1981 the program was extended to a monthlong celebration known today as National Children’s Dental Health Month.

For questions about NCDHM resources, please email ncdhm@ada.org. For oral health resources, visit MouthHealthy.org.