Greater New York Dental Meeting 2017 (Jacob Javits Center)

  • Colgate Van (Bright Smiles, Bright Futures) – Three of my fellow students and I had the privilege of working the Colgate Van with one of our professors. This van is equipped to screen children for common oral health conditions. These dental vans are usually based in hub-cities and travel to under-served rural and urban communities in the United States to help raise awareness about the importance of children’s dental health. On the van I was recording the recommended type of treatment the child needed, for instance Orthodontic, preventative or restorative. I recorded if the child had any suspicious carious lesions or any malocclusion. A lot of children expressed anxiety when they got on the van and were asked to sit in the dental chair. I helped ease their nerves by interacting with them and briefly explaining what we were going to do for them so that they would feel more comfortable. The referral was then folded and placed into each child’s back pack to be brought home to the caregiver.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Service Learning Field Project 2018 – Handwashing & Oral Health (Brooklyn Amity School )

  • For our Public Health course we were required to independently select a site and provide oral health education. My group and I decided to select a first grade class at a private school. The topic was the importance of proper handwashing and its connection to oral health. Although this was a private institute and privileged students, we got to see first hand that their knowledge of handwashing and oral hygiene was insufficient. This was a wonderful learning experience because it taught us that all individuals should receive equal treatment and education and we should never assume that one group in particular has had more education or quality care. We composed a PowerPoint presentation and then played a game to reinforce memorization of what was taught. The game I developed was like a puzzle in which the students had to place the steps of hand washing in the correct order on a bulletin board. Each child was called up and given an image of one of the steps and the remaining students were encouraged to help their fellow classmate place it in the correct order if they were struggling.


 

Give Kids a Smile 2018 (Ronald Edmunds Learning Center)

  • My classmates and I attended this learning center to provide Type IV oral screenings with tongue depressors and available illumination. I was also able to perform a visual oral examination and apply fluoride varnish on the teeth of children of various ages. I had the pleasure of working with pediatric patients with and without special needs and developmental disabilities.


 

 

 

 

 

 

Head Start  (293 Neptune Avenue Family Head Start, Brooklyn NY 11235)

  • Six of my classmates and I went to this Head Start facility to educate 3-5 year olds about dental offices, nutrition, toothbrushing and cavities. Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. We got to demonstrate an animated video called “Gina the Giraffe” on why it’s important to brush and also introduced them to typical dental attire such as masks and gloves. This outreach activity was a wonderful experience because we got to educate students at an age where they are curious and very interactive. They loved the video and were enthusiastic to share their dental experiences with us. They were also very eager to show us their brushing skills on the stuffed animal typodont pictured below. Using the typodont I was able to teach them to brush their teeth in circular motions and to make sure to reach far back towards their molars in order to remove plaque on the occlusal surfaces of the posterior teeth. The children did an excellent job in retaining the information and were able to repeat it successfully!