EVALUATION

To evaluate the quality of my project I would first talk to those who participated, including students and their teachers as well. I would get feedback from the teachers to see how they perceived that the kids reacted to our assembly and our hopes that they would take on the task of improving their oral health. We would check in about a month after the first presentation. At that time we would remind the students of the importance of their oral health and review their progress charts and commitment contracts. Also, we would remind them of rewards that we were offering to hopefully get the excitement back, (if it had been lost at all), then give them a 2nd chance to keep on track with their progress.

I think that we would have a pretty good turn out. If the teachers are excited about the overall health of their students they will continue to encourage them in keeping up with their oral health and creating new habits if they weren't habits already. I would like to return a 3rd time to reward the students that had reached their goals and kept commitments to us. Hopefully by this time most, if not all, of the students will have formed a habit of brushing their teeth after lunch... and we'd cross our fingers that this new habit will carry over into their homecare as well.

At that time I would have the students and teachers fill out evaluation forms on the overall program and what they thought about it all. They would be able to share their opinions and give suggestions for improvement. For quantitative measurements it would be nice to take a poll of the students; we could ask who was in the habit of brushing after meals before we came to present to them and if any of their habits had changed and what they had learned that really made an impression on them. I think we will get a decent turnout and an overall good response!

A Plan for the Population

When kids start their middle school careers their diet takes a hit that can be detrimental to their oral health Availability of soda, candy and other cariogenic products for lunch options is causing harmful consequences and most of the time the children don’t even know it. At this age, kids should be old enough to take in the information and skills taught and implement them into their daily routines.

Goal: Provide an experience for the middle school children that teaches them how sugar in their diet can affect their oral health and more importantly, educate the children on how they ca n improve their own oral health. We will get the children excited to get in the habit of taking care of their teeth. Our main priority is education because many children do not know that keeping their mouth healthy contributes largely to their overall health.

Audience: small groups of about 40 middle school children at South Hills Middle School, Bluffdale, UT
Time: about 45 minutes

Objectives:
To educate children on the importance of oral hygiene and good home care
To have fun while teaching
To educate teachers so they can encourage their students
To help kids realize and understand consequences of not taking care of their teeth.

Teaching Methods:
-Pre-assembly bulletin board w/ facts and stats
-Small lecture/ power point presentation
-Discussion
-Interactive activities

Pre-Program Plans:
-Get approval from the school principal and set up times for assemblies
-Educate middle school teachers; give short assembly preview and discuss rewards for kids who participate in reaching goals we will set.
-Prepare power points and activity supplies
-Donations of toothbrushes/paste from local dentists
-Set up follow up dates with principal and teachers (to check on goals and reinforce importance of oral health care).

ASSEMBLY OUTLINE:

** A couple weeks before presenting the assembly, we will place a bulletin board in the middle school lunch room, near the vending machines, that will display facts about cariogenic foods and pictures showing the consequences of excess sugar on teeth as well as statistics about poor oral hygiene and its effects.

Intro: A group of dental hygiene students and an instructor will introduce ourselves, describe a dental hygienist’s role and tell kids why we’re there.

Energizer: A fun activity conducted by hygiene students to get the wiggles out of kids; they are encouraged to be loud, spunky and OUT OF CONTROL!

Discussion: Explain the bulletin board that was in their lunch room. Get feedback from children on pictures and facts. Explain the importance of keeping good oral hygiene using the bulletin board as an outline for discussion.

Activity: Cover a large plastic typodont with peanut butter representing “food we eat.” Quickly brush the coated teeth with oversized toothbrush not getting complete coverage (leave “biofilm and debris” behind). Point out what is left behind when teeth are not thoroughly brushed. Use oatmeal as the “next meal” covering the teeth and showing how it will continue to stick and build up if not properly removed. Give a demo on tooth brushing techniques they should use.

Small lecture/Power point presentation: Explain process of demineralization and caries formation. Present pictures and facts that show beginning stages as well as progression. Point out to the students that this is a disease. Show a lot of pictures of what sugar and poor homecare can do. *Make an impression*

Activity: Use a large display board presenting a number of different pictures of treats that we love…soda, candy bars, pie, chocolate milk, doughnuts, bubblegum, ice-cream, etc. Have kids raise their hands for a turn to come up and pick a treat. With each item we will have a vial containing the amount of sugar in a serving for that specific item. Have the child hold out their hand and dump the sugar into it for more of an effect. This will help the kids get more of an idea of how much sugar they are actually taking in. Remind students of the power point slides they just viewed so they can put the facts/consequences together to make it make more sense to them.

Gift: Explain that we are going to be giving each student 2 toothbrushes, one for school and one to keep at home. Get kids excited to brush…have them set a goal to brush after lunch while in school and also at home. Tell that we will be returning in about a month to check up on their new habits and discuss a rewards program for those who reach their goal ie. fieldtrip w/ the hygiene students, special privileges. (I think if we make the assembly fun, the students want us to stick around; if it can be a part of their reward to spend a day with us having more fun it might be a little but of an incentive to the kids). Pass out the donated toothbrush kits. Thank kids for letting us come!

IN CLASS: Have teachers pass out contracts on brushing saying that the students will commit to brushing after lunch and have student sign...only if they want to. Teachers will encourage students and remind them of the importance of good oral health care. Teachers will also go into more depth about rewards they can earn if they stick to their contract. Kids should be allowed 5-8 minutes after lunch to take care of their brushing. Keep a chart in the classroom to keep track of each time the student brushes. *Check back in 30-40 days for evaluation and progress report.

Outline

 

Plan for the Population

For the South Hills Middle School population in Bluffdale, Utah, I would like to have a group of dental hygiene students and instructors present a few small group assemblies to the kids and their teachers. A few weeks before actually presenting I want to display a bulletin board in their school lunch room that show what sugar/no brushing can do to one's teeth. Hopefully this might spark some interest so when we are actually there presenting they will pay close attention and want to learn about what we have to teach them.
The assembly will include a power point presentation about the importance of oral hygiene and a couple of interactive activities that will enforce the information presented. I would like to present the kids w/ toothbrushes and toothpaste of their own that they can keep in their lockers to use after their lunch hour. It will be a high energy presentation to keep the kids interested and excited about their oral hygiene!
I will prepare a more detailed outline for my project next week!

Virtual Pop...

For my virtual population project I decided to target middle/high school aged kids. (I'm not sure if I need a specific city or area with that... Kami, hopefully you can help me?!) The reason I decided on this is because at work I've seen so many kids around this age whose teeth need a lot of restorative work and I wonder what the reason is for that. I think a big contributor of poor oral health in kids this age is their diet. In middle school and high school kids are given more options for lunch; instead of a 2 choice meal plan you can get icecream, soda, candybars, and doughnuts along with or INSTEAD OF the "other" meals. I believe kids choose treats over a healthy lunch most of the time...I was in high school once and I know what I ate! I'm interested to research more on this subject. So, this is my population!

This New Language

Hi ya'll, this is just a little off the subject of D.H., but it's a good break!
So, I was just thinkin...not only do we have a whole new vocabulary of dental words to learn, but each week in Community Oral Health we learn a new list of terms that I will call "Kami-calls!" I seriously love that woman! Kami, if you're out there...I think you're amazing! (Yeah, I earned this permanent brown freckle on the end of my nose. Really, look, it's there!)
Well, yesterday in class I was a little sleepy, so I decided I would take note of all the words Kami used that I didn't know to help me stay awake! Funny...I haven't had a writer's cramp that bad since Van de Graffs Human Anatomy class! Surprisingly enough I found a little extra time last night to look up the words I had jotted down. Well, okay not all of them...only the ones I was creative enough to spell. I thought I might share just a few of them with you all in case you don't have a Webster's chip in your brain either! Ha Ha
Kami calls it: ubiquitous, I say ever present (adj.). How bout indemnity plan? That means security against loss or damage. Affluent just means wealthy, and a conundrum is a riddle. Vacilate means waver between courses or actions.
Hopefully I'm not the only one scrambling through my thesaurus and dictionary... Maybe my hair color is 1/2 my problem and you all are like, duh, we all knew those words already, but just humor me will ya?! Kami I think you're great, thanks for being so SPRIGHTLY in class! (do you know that one?) I think I'm going to find words to try to stump you... :) Thanks for making class fun !
HAPPY TRAILS

Public H2O Systems in the U.S.

While browsing around on the Nathe website I was very interested to find statistics for people on public water systems that are receiving fluoridated water. Sadly enough, Utah had the lowest numbers BY FAR. Some of the ones I looked into were Idaho: 47.5%, Texas: 65.7%, California: 27.6%, Nevada: 69.4%, and Arizona: 55%. Maryland is at 93.7% and Utah in last place at 2.2%. The differences between states, especially compared to Utah are pretty drastic. My question is what can we do in our community to promote fluoridation more? Anyone have any great ideas?...