Last year, I did a research project with two other students about how low vitamin D levels affect our oral health. This research project really brought home the point to me that  everything in our body and health affects our oral health.

This past December, our whole class took part in the Greater New York Dental Meeting in New York City, we volunteered with Colgate to bring oral hygiene education to public school children.

Earlier this year, along with 3 other classmates, I presented to a class of developmentally delayed school children about the importance of oral healthcare, with an emphasis on how nutrition and food choices affect oral health. Here are a few slides from our slideshow presentation:

Earlier this year, our class went to an underserved preschool to give a presentation about the importance of oral home care and visiting the dentist regularly. As part of this presentation, we showed them a video of animals taking care of their teeth. At the end of the presentation, a child in the group we were presenting to told us that he doesn’t brush his teeth every day and that he hadn’t known how to properly do it. It was an extremely rewarding experience to be a part of.

As part of our public health course, we visited another underserved preschool in order to apply fluoride varnish to their teeth and examine their teeth for possible decay or dental anomalies, and when necessary send a note home to their parents that they need to visit a dentist soon.