During my first semester in the dental hygiene program, I took a Histology and Embryology class. This class introduced me to a whole new world of oral and dental complications that can occur during fetal development. Our professor had us create presentations of one dental anomaly for each student to show to the rest of the class. My presentation was on the dental anomaly called gemination. Gemination is when a single tooth splits into two crowns, while still having one root. This occurs when a single tooth germ attempts to divide during development in the bud stage. This research project was very interesting to me as it widened my knowledge in the dental field which will enable me to notice dental irregularities in the future.
After passing all my classes in first semester, I then proceeded to my second semester courses, which included taking Principles of Dental Hygiene Care II. In the seminar portion of this class, our class was divided into groups, and each group had to choose a topic for a table clinic research project. Our group chose the topic of the association between pregnant mothers with periodontal disease and their babies being born a low birth weight. This topic certainly interested me as I had just given birth 6 months prior and never knew there was any association between the two. I felt that having this knowledge could really help me make expectant mothers understand the importance of taking care of their oral health, in order to protect the health of their unborn child.
