Familiar LEGO bricks used to ease children's fear of the dentist
Many children dread going to the dentist — but a Chuncheon theme park hopes to change that. Legoland Korea Resort, located in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, has launched a special talent donation initiative to support the health of children in the region.
On Tuesday, Legoland donated a custom-built LEGO dental model to Gangwon National University Children's Hospital to support children's dental health education.
Master builders from the resort's model team designed and constructed the dental health education model over seven weeks, using approximately 4,000 bricks.
Although built from child-friendly LEGO bricks, the model was meticulously designed under the supervision of hospital medical staff to realistically depict the structure of healthy teeth and the progression of tooth decay. Legoland expects the model to help reduce children's fear of dental treatment while naturally encouraging good brushing habits and an awareness of oral health.
The donated model will be used in the "Children's Health Classroom" program at Gangwon National University Children's Hospital. Since 2017, the program has consistently served more than 3,000 elementary school students from local children's centers and kindergartners, helping them learn about health and grow up strong.
A donation ceremony was held recently, attended by Cho Hee-seung, director of Gangwon National University Children's Hospital; Park Jin-seong, head of clinical services; Yoon Ju-won, pediatric dentistry education instructor; Jang Mi-ye, coordinator of the Children's Health Classroom; and the Legoland master builders who designed and built the model. Participants reaffirmed their commitment to promoting children's health. Legoland said it plans to continue similar talent donations, including the creation of additional LEGO health models that children can touch and interact with.
"We hope the dental model, built from LEGO bricks that children know and love as a symbol of play, will help dispel the vague fear of hospitals and dental treatment and prove useful in building good oral health habits," a Legoland official said. "We are deeply honored that Legoland can play a part in protecting children's healthy smiles, and we will continue to develop creative ways to contribute to the local community."
Since signing an MOU with Gangwon National University Children's Hospital shortly after the resort opened in 2022, Legoland has consistently visited the pediatric ward each year during special occasions such as Children's Day and Christmas to encourage young patients and deliver gifts.
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