Service Learning Project: Oral Health and Nutrition – Hunter Point Community Middle School (Queens, NY March 2024)
Along with five of my classmates, I volunteered to present on the topic of oral health and nutrition to a class of 6th graders. The presentation was preceded with determining our target audience, creating a lesson plan, and contacting and coordinating with the school. We began the presentation by asking the students questions to establish their baseline knowledge on oral health, then we presented a PowerPoint, and ended with a Kahoot quiz game. Most of the students were able to answer the questions correctly, showing that they were engaged and retained the information we taught.
This valuable experience gave me another chance to educate a younger population. Most of the program is focused on treating the adult population. This presentation gave me more experience in tailoring my terminology and overall approach to educating my patients.
To read the report click here.
Give Kids a Smile- NYCCT Dental Hygiene Clinic (Brooklyn, NY Feb 2024)
At this event we provided free dental exams, cleanings, and sealant placement to kids ages 5-12. This was a great experience because it gave me more experience treating pediatric patients. The sequence of the appointments were as follows: oral cancer screening, dental charting of primary and mixed dentition, polishing, hand scaling, and fluoride varnish. Patients that were indicated for sealants received those as well. This event also served as another experience where I got to exercise my patient anxiety management. Some of the younger patients found the environment overwhelming, but with a friendly spirit and Tell-Show-Do, I was able to calm my patients down and perform the necessary assessments and procedures.
