Reflection
A dental hygienist can assume a number of important professional roles such as clinician, public health administrator, educator, researcher and advocator. During my senior year, my group and I were engaged in a service learning project that focused on children who live in a lower-income community, and are in need of preventive dental education. Together, we developed several goals and created a program called “Healthy Teeth, Pretty Smile!” which enabled us to implement our oral health education objectives.
Some of the major goals of the “Health Teeth, Pretty Smile!” program were to increase children’s awareness of oral health by introducing the oral cavity; to explain how one’s choice of food and/or beverages can affect one’s teeth; to discuss how caries are formed and to demonstrate the appropriate way to brush one’s teeth.
My role in the service learning project was focused on:
- Explanation of cavities;
- Discussed how cavities can be prevented;
- Showed a video titled “Cavities by Dr. Binocs Show” to the children; and
- Engaged myself along with my colleagues in the coloring activity.
The service learning project was extremely insightful as it presented a great opportunity for me to engage with kids from a community and to understand the challenges they faced in obtaining oral health. This experience also allowed me to apply my didactic knowledge while acquiring valuable experience serving the community.
I encourage you to read about our approaches for assessing, planning, implementing, evaluating the effectiveness of the “Healthy Teeth, Pretty Smile!” program. I also welcome you to review the “Healthy Teeth, Pretty Smile” program presentation and brochure.
