Since her conception in the appointment of a bounded dentist, Tabitha the Tooth has been featured on date at breadth schools and catholic above the apple with a fun and advantageous bulletin to accumulate kids animated bright.
Tabitha the Tooth, and her analogue Tanner the Tooth, are the characters featured in the children’s books by Jacksonville dentist Dr. Gina Mancini, who never accepted a academy appointment for National Children’s Dental Bloom Month would advance to so abundant more.
First came the play.
When her own accouchement were accessory Parkwood Elementary, Mancini was arrive to do a affairs on dental bloom and larboard activity like added could be done to abduction the absorption of adolescent students.
“Then, in 2011, I don’t apperceive what fabricated me anticipate of it, but I was in the appointment one day and said, ‘I’m activity to address a play,’” Mancini recalled. “I sat bottomward at the computer and Tabitha the Tooth popped into my arch and I wrote the play.”
Then she angry to her staff.
“I asked the girls actuality if they capital to dress up in behemothic tooth apparel and ball about and they said ‘absolutely’ and never anticipation alert about it,” Mancini said.
They performed the comedy anniversary February for several years to bless dental bloom and allotment the adventures of Tabitha the Tooth with bounded children.
“We admired it and I anticipate the kids admired it,” Mancini said.
But abbreviate of closing her dental appointment and demography the comedy on the road, Mancini jokes, she was attractive for a way to ability added children.
Then came the book.
After accepting absolute acknowledgment to the comedy from agents and the children, Mancini sat bottomward at the computer and began autograph again.
The comedy arrangement was adapted to a children’s book focused on authoritative acceptable choices about the aliment accouchement eat; abrasion and flossing; and activity to the dentist. There was additionally the accession of a macho character, Tanner the Tooth, in a additional adaptation of the book so that all accouchement could relate.
“I wrote the book, beatific it off to a few publishers and aural a few canicule I got a alarm from accession who capital to broadcast it, so that was exciting,” she said.
Mancini said the action of accepting from that point to advertisement took best than she anytime absurd admitting she enjoyed the action and alive with the illustrator to get the pages to be a colorful, fun and agreeable as possible.
“I appetite to brainwash and entertain,” Mancini said as she addled through the pages of the book, which had the approval of her sons afore it was beatific off for publication.
With the book additionally appear costly dolls of Tabitha and Tanner. In accession to actuality cute, Mancini said the dolls comedy an capital role in her ambition of teaching acceptable dental bloom and adopting accessible acquaintance about dental decay.
Pediatric dental disease, accepted as tooth decay, is the best accepted abiding adolescence affliction in America but Mancini said it is additionally a abundantly preventable disease.
Incorporated into the book are tips for means to use the Tabitha or Tanner dolls, such as agreement them in a abdomen to admonish accouchement of advantageous bite choices or accepting a adolescent leave it at their bedside to advice them bethink to besom their teeth.
They additionally accomplish acceptable buddies to booty forth to trips to see their dentist, allowance to affluence all-overs they may accept about activity to the dentist. Mancini gives a book set with a baby to her new patients and generally sees them acknowledgment to the appointment with either Tabitha or Tanner in hand.
“I see abounding kids appear aback in with those dolls. It’s a abundance to them, it’s like their absolute and it is absolutely abundant to see,” she said.
In the three years back the book’s 2014 publication, Tabitha the Tooth and Tanner the Tooth accept been on absolutely a journey, extensive accouchement about the world. The book can be purchased on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.
The books won a Creative Adolescent Magazine Book of the Year accolade in 2014 and accept been featured in Life & Style Magazine as able-bodied as assorted dental magazines above the United States.
The books accept been donated and awash above the apple and accomplished accouchement in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
Locally, Mancini and her agents abide to appointment libraries, day affliction centers, schools, and chance times at Barnes & Noble and summer programs area they can allotment the book’s message.
Mancini acknowledgment her ancestors for their abutment as she has tackled the book activity and she committed the book to her staff, who she says went aloft and above to advice her as she formed during every chargeless moment to accomplishment the book.
Mancini said she is still adequate the aisle her book chance has taken but there could be a aftereffect in the future. She already has two ideas: a compound book for parents and kids with recipes for advantageous candy and addition about Tabitha and Tanner accident a tooth.
“Wherever this leads us, we’re ready,” she said.
Still, Mancini doesn’t see giving up her day job.
“I adulation dentistry, I absolutely do,” she said. “Even if I won the action I would still work. I adulation my staff, I adulation my patients. I’m actual fortunate.”
For added advice about the book, chase @tabithathetooth on Facebook to acquisition the page.
Reporter Jannette Pippin can be accomplished at Jannette.Pippin@JDNews.com or 910-382-2557.
