Bing Provides Advice for Families

An advice guide made by dentists and paediatricians for families and nurseries is on its way to discover the best daily practices to safeguard the oral hygiene of pre-school children and, together with the guide, the song ‘La canzone per lavarsi i denti’ and the book ‘Laviamo i denti con Bing!’. This initiative is promoted by the project Le Buone Abitudini, which, from 2023, involves the Italian Society of Paediatrics, Assonidi and Acamar Films, the production company of the famous animated series Bing, a character appreciated by children all over the world with 9 billion views on YouTube and about 1 million hours of total playback every day. The protagonists, together with paediatricians, of this important campaign are the dentists of Arkè – Un Dentista per Amico, a non-profit organisation that, since 2000, has been donating conservative dental care to minors from fragile families and sheltered facilities. Acting as ambassador for this project is once again Bing, the protagonist of the animated series of the same name, already the promoter, thanks to Le Buone Abitudini, of various awareness-raising activities on good practices for the healthy growth of children.  

Here is the advice guide with the main tips that the dentists of Arkè – Un Dentista per Amico and the paediatricians of SIP (ItalianSociety of Paediatrics) wanted to dispense to Italian nurseries and families with a view to preventing and protecting the oral health of the youngest:

• Beware of baby bottles: foods and drinks rich in sugar promote the formation of bacterial plaque, so it is necessary to limit their consumption, especially in the first years of life.
• Dummy in moderation: prolonged use should be avoided so as not to damage the morphology of the mouth.
• What to do before teething? Use a moist gauze to clean the gums after meals.
• How to use the toothbrush? Like a game, place the toothbrush on the gum on one side and brush “from the pink of the gum to the white of the tooth” on all three sides of the tooth: in front, behind and where you chew. And then… count to 100, perhaps while singing a little song!
• Becoming friends with the dentist: it is important to take children to the dentist even when they are young and not only when there is an emergency or pain arises, a way to get to know the dentist and become friends!
• No worries: if parents prepare the children with games and imagination, even this experience can become serene; all they have to do is tell them about the armchair that rises like a spaceship or suggest they bring along their favourite toy or puppet to turn the visit into a fun experience.

Le Buone Abitudini campaign for correct oral hygiene also launches the brand new Bing song ‘La canzone per lavarsi i denti’, perfect for brushing your teeth together while having fun (link at the bottom of the document) available on Rai Play and YouTube. Very funny is the part where Bing, singing, says “…I brush my teeth up, I brush my teeth down, I brush them gently, rotating them all around, I brush them to the right, and then to the left, I brush them every morning, and before I go to sleep, I brush them very well, counting to 100, and while I’m brushing them I sing a refrain…”

Giunti Editore also launched the book ‘Laviamo i denti con Bing!’ in which Bing accompanies his very young fans in discovering the best and most fun ways to take care of their little teeth.

Thanks to Assonidi’s fundamental presence in Le Buone Abitudini project, nursery schools and the thousands of families with registered pre-school children will be able to receive oral hygiene materials for the youngest children (graphics, tips and a song).

An initiative involving a total of more than 11 thousand paediatricians, around 400 nurseries and more than 2500 dentists from Arkè – Un Dentista per Amico.

“The role of parents in educating their children about proper oral hygiene is really very important,” said Alessandra Crovetto, President and founder of Arkè, which has been committed for years to the mission of giving as many children as possible a smile. “We are convinced that a project such as Le Buone Abitudini can really help families and provide new ideas to teach them how to take care of their well-being through play, reading and songs. In this case, thanks to Bing’s help, children will discover that brushing their teeth can become a fun activity and they will be encouraged to do it following a specific routine“.

“Oral hygiene is an aspect that cannot be neglected while children are growing up,” explained Rino Agostiniani, President of the Italian Society of Paediatrics. “As a whole, taking care of one’s mouth is a fundamental habit that must be included in a child’s daily routine at the right time and in the right way, so as to prevent health problems that may emerge in adult life as well.”

“Taking care of one’s teeth is a practice that should be taught from the earliest years of life,” said Paolo Uniti, Director of Assonidi. “Thanks to this campaign, kindergarten educators will have one more tool to support families in the difficult task of ensuring the well-being of their children.”  

“Young children learn new fundamental skills every day to ‘prepare for life‘,” explained Mikael Shields, CEO of Acamar Films. “We created a series of stories in which our young characters learn these new skills, such as brushing their teeth, to help parents implement encouraging and helpful strategies to build healthy habits that will last a lifetime.”