Give Kids a Smile
At our school, we had the opportunity to have kids from a public school come to our clinic to provide prophylaxis, apply sealants if applicable, and educate them on oral hygiene. For this event, I was lucky enough to work with a 6-year-old girl and gain first-hand experience on what it’s like to work with children. I also helped a classmate of mine assist with dental charting, suctioning, and sealants on an 8-year-old girl. Seeing the kids’ reactions and how compliant they were throughout the whole process, makes me experience positive emotions and feel proud of what I do to help the community.
Horan School
I was provided the opportunity to go to Horan school with a few classmates of mine and provide oral hygiene education and activities to kids with special needs. We presented a poster regarding oral hygiene, provided a hands-on activity where the kids would “remove” plaque and biofilm on a marked laminated sheet with a fake toothbrush, and answered any questions the kids’ caregivers had. It was a great opportunity to understand how each kid’s cognitive issues or physical impairments can affect their oral hygiene and how we as dental hygiene students, can accommodate their needs to provide a better oral hygiene routine for them.
Public Health Head Start Project – Smile Savers
For my public health project, my classmates and I reached out to a class of 7th graders at Brooklyn Prospect School to educate them on how to properly take care of their teeth, how their diet affects their oral health, how to protect their teeth when playing sports, and the negative impact vaping can have on the oral cavity. We provided an education session through a poster board, a Kahoot session, hands-on activity sheets to “remove” biofilm and plaque, and a Q&A session. It was interesting to see how much they knew about oral hygiene at the beginning versus the end of the event and how much of an impact we had just by teaching these students the importance of oral hygiene.
