## Task 24 - Speaking

Gum disease
You are going to talk about dental care.

- First read the text.
- Form groups of three or four pupils.
- Do the exercises. (ask your teacher how many you have to do)
- Everyone chooses four questions.
  (Did you choose the same one? Pick another one)
- Discuss the questions in your group.
- Report about your discussion to the rest of the class.

Read the text.

A new study shows that people today have more gum disease than people living 2,000 years ago. The study is from the university King's College in London and is published in the 'British Dental Journal'. Researchers looked at the teeth in the skulls of 303 people who lived between 200-400 AD (2,200-2,400* years ago). The skulls were found at an old burial site in the west of England. The researchers found that only 5 per cent of the skulls showed signs of gum disease. Up to 30 per cent of people in England today have gum disease. Professor Francis Hughes was surprised by what he found. He said people did not have toothbrushes or toothpaste back then and did not visit dentists, like we do today. The main reason why modern people have more gum disease is smoking. Theya Molleson, co-author of the report, said the study shows that people's oral health has become much worse over the past 2,000 years. She added that she thinks gum disease could start going down from now as more people stop smoking. She said: "As smoking declines in the population, we should see a decline in the [numbers of people with] the disease." Gum disease happens when bacteria build up in your mouth. The bacteria eat away at your gums and can make your teeth fall out. People can reduce the risk of gum disease by regular brushing, using mouthwash and not smoking. *correction: This should be 1,600-1,800 years ago. Source: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1410/141028-gum-disease.html

Click on the links to do the exercises.

CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life? Topics or words: study / gum disease / university / researchers / teeth / surprised / toothbrush / dentist / main reason / smoking / oral health / population / bacteria / regular brushing / risk

ORAL HYGIENE: Rank these with your partner. Put the most important for oral hygiene at the top.
regular brushing | rinsing after eating
no sweets | visits to the dentist
flossing | using mouthwash
no smoking | chewing gum

DENTIST: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "dentist".
Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them.
Together, put the words into different categories.

Read the text again and read the questions.

A new study shows that people today have more gum disease than people living 2,000 years ago. The study is from the university King's College in London and is published in the 'British Dental Journal'. Researchers looked at the teeth in the skulls of 303 people who lived between 200-400 AD (2,200-2,400* years ago). The skulls were found at an old burial site in the west of England. The researchers found that only 5 per cent of the skulls showed signs of gum disease. Up to 30 per cent of people in England today have gum disease. Professor Francis Hughes was surprised by what he found. He said people did not have toothbrushes or toothpaste back then and did not visit dentists, like we do today. The main reason why modern people have more gum disease is smoking. Theya Molleson, co-author of the report, said the study shows that people's oral health has become much worse over the past 2,000 years. She added that she thinks gum disease could start going down from now as more people stop smoking. She said: "As smoking declines in the population, we should see a decline in the [numbers of people with] the disease." Gum disease happens when bacteria build up in your mouth. The bacteria eat away at your gums and can make your teeth fall out. People can reduce the risk of gum disease by regular brushing, using mouthwash and not smoking. *correction: This should be 1,600-1,800 years ago. Source: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1410/141028-gum-disease.html

1. What did you think when you read the headline?
2. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
3. What springs to mind when you hear the word 'gum'?
4. What do you know about gums?
5. What do you do to look after your gums?
6. Are you surprised by what you read?
7. Why did people have better teeth 2,000 years ago?
8. How important is it to care for your teeth and gums?
9. In what kind of condition are your teeth and gums?
10. Is it easy to look after your teeth and gums?
11. What would you like to change about your teeth and gums?
12. What do you think of going to the dentist?
13. Why don't people know that smoking is bad for your gums?
14. Who should tell us about oral hygiene?
15. What things about your teeth do you worry about?
16. What would you do if your teeth fell out?
17. How does reading this article make you feel about your teeth?
18. How can our teeth survive without toothpaste and brushing?
19. How important is it to floss and use mouthwash?

## Preparation oral exam: Role play

instructions
You have already read the text about gum disease.
You have also done some of the exercises.
Now ist’s time to do the role play.

- Form groups of four pupils.
  (In groups of five one of you can be the director).
- You might want to read the text again.
- Read the roles you can choose from.
- Decide who is going to play which role.
- Act out the role play.

Read the text again.

A new study shows that people today have more gum disease than people living 2,000 years ago. The study is from the university King's College in London and is published in the 'British Dental Journal'. Researchers looked at the teeth in the skulls of 303 people who lived between 200-400 AD (2,200-2,400* years ago). The skulls were found at an old burial site in the west of England. The researchers found that only 5 per cent of the skulls showed signs of gum disease. Up to 30 per cent of people in England today have gum disease. Professor Francis Hughes was surprised by what he found. He said people did not have toothbrushes or toothpaste back then and did not visit dentists, like we do today. The main reason why modern people have more gum disease is smoking. Theya Molleson, co-author of the report, said the study shows that people's oral health has become much worse over the past 2,000 years. She added that she thinks gum disease could start going down from now as more people stop smoking. She said: "As smoking declines in the population, we should see a decline in the [numbers of people with] the disease." Gum disease happens when bacteria build up in your mouth. The bacteria eat away at your gums and can make your teeth fall out. People can reduce the risk of gum disease by regular brushing, using mouthwash and not smoking. *correction: This should be 1,600-1,800 years ago. Source: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1410/141028-gum-disease.html

Read the roles.

- Role A: The dentist You think the dentist is the best thing for oral hygiene. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): mouthwash, regular brushing or no sweets.

- Role B: Mouthwash You think mouthwash is the best thing for oral hygiene. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): the dentist, regular brushing or no sweets.

- Role C: Regular brushing You think regular brushing is the best thing for oral hygiene. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): mouthwash, the dentist or no sweets.

- Role D: No sweets You think no sweets is the best thing for oral hygiene. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): mouthwash, regular brushing or the dentist.

## Preparation oral exam: Article

For your oral exam (next February) you have to discuss 3 news articles. You are going to practice this today.

You have read the article in task 20, so you already know what it is about. Prepare yourself for the following things:

1) give a brief summary of the article: what is it about? use the summary-sheet to help you summarize.

2) prepare yourself for questions your teacher may ask you about the article:

- what does.... mean? (make sure you can explain difficult words in English)

- what is the most interesting fact in the article, why?

- how do you feel about the article? Explain why.

- what is the aim* of the article? to entertain,inform, convince or persuade. Explain why.

- Is this article relevant* to you? Explain yourself.

3) Talk about it in pairs. Imagine it is for your oral exam: which difficult questions and questions would your teacher ask?

Words to help:

*aim = doel

*relevant = van toepassing