GNYDM
The average time a child brushes is 37 sec. The recommended time a child should brush is 2 min. Additionally, most children do not like brushing their linguals or posterior teeth. Therefore, it was very important to change bad oral habits into good ones early by teaching them how to brush properly. At the 59th Greater NY Dental Meeting, I volunteered as a hygiene student to teach children from 10+ schools how to brush their teeth. I gave each child an individual lesson on brushing using the Fones method. Once they demonstrated the method correctly, they were given stickers for their good behavior and encouraged to keep it up at home. I also gave each child a soft toothbrush (many reported they used hard brushes) and a sample of flouridated toothpaste. I tried to make brushing a fun activity for children and rewarded their good oral hygiene habits with stickers and kind words of encouragement.

Fluoride varnish program
Children from ages 2-5 often do not visit the dentist and are at high risk of contracting ECC’s. Many times the parents are immigrants and do not apply for their children’s dental insurance. Other times, they are just afraid to visit the dentist because they associate the dentist with pain. As a result of lack of education and resources, many such do not receive preventive dental services such as fluoride varnish. To prevent the progression of caries in this childhood population, I acted as a screener for ECC’s. I screened 2 children from each visiting school (total of 5 schools) to see if they showed any white spot lesions or decayed teeth. If so, I indicated it on their paperwork and the child was referred to a dentist. Then I applied 1.1% NaF varnish to each child whose parent had consented, since most of these children don’t receive such services at the dentist. The children were very adorable, many asked what I was putting on their teeth. I told them it was a special vitamin juice that would make their teeth strong and this made most children very happy to receive the service

fluoride varnish written assignment

East River Early Developmental Center-nutrition presentation
Our plan was to teach pre K children better nutritional habits to help prevent cavities. The children at this school aged between 3-5 yrs old, were all suffering from some sort of mental/developmental disability. We could not hold their attention if we did not make the activity fun. Therefore, we brought in colorful posters, one titled happy teeth and the other titled sad teeth. We also bought cute pictures of healthy foods as well as junk foods to stick to the two posters. Each child was called individually to place a food under the happy teeth or sad teeth poster. Everytime the child made a correct food choice (ex putting milk under the happy teeth category), he was rewarded with a sticker. This encouraged kids to make good food choices, such as skippimg soda and cookies and going for bananas and water, to keep their teeth healthy.

To really drive the point home, I also bought in a take home coloring book. The coloring pages had both healthy and unhealthy food choices. The child was supposed to bring the activity home to his parents, working together to draw Xs through unhealthy foods such as cake. Meanwhile, healthy foods should be colored in fun colors and the page stuck to the child’s bedroom wall so the child remembers to have more of those foods daily. By bringing a color activity home that was a review of what was done in class as a group, I wanted kids to remember their lesson on good nutritional choices and also teach it to their parents so it could be incorporated into their daily diet

PH_ Service Learning Project- – -Phamphlet

This is the pamphlet that was given to children to take home and show parents regarding good oral hygiene habits

NY City Tech College Wide Dental screening

Many adolescents do not take good care of their teeth and gingivutis and caries are rampant amongst college students. A mass dental screening event was held at NYC college of Technology during both the Fall and Spring semesters. I participated in the Fall event by advertising to several students about the screening, many of whom did not know there was a dental hygiene dept in school that offered free cleanings, xrays and other services to students and faculty. I also helped screen the students and some outside patients. Those who wanted to come back for cleanings were given appts so our precious DH department could help care for their precious teeth.