Being a healthcare professional you have so many opportunities to reach out to the community and help share or spread your knowledge of not only dental health, but general health as well. Many communities lack the knowledge and tools necessary to carry out every day tasks, such as brushing teeth, flossing, or even receiving fluoride. Dental disease, such as caries and gingivitis could be greatly reduced if people had all of the necessary resources. In the words of Simon Sinek, “A leader’s job is not to do the work for others, it’s to help others figure out how to do it themselves, to get things done, and to succeed beyond what they thought possible”.
Most of my community work involves children. I have volunteered on Give Kids A Smile Day and by providing oral health education, oral cancer screenings, and prophylaxis for public school children. I was also able to provide oral health to preschool children, while providing dental screenings and applying fluoride varnish their teeth with the help of the Headstart and Fluoride Varnish programs.
Being able to help children prevent oral disease is such a great honor. Children are our future and will always have the ability to learn new things and pass them on to their friends and family. Any and everyone has the ability to grow, learn, and teach, including myself.
