Dental Hygiene Education: Nursing Students and Brunswick Boys & Girls Club
Authors: Beth Barrows, Lorinda Edwards, Dorena Kemppainen, Ana Lopez, Patrick Meadows, Kari Powell , Ashley Riner, and Kristopher Shead
Faculty Supervisor: Dawana Gibbs, RN, MSN, CNE
Abstract:
Our group service-learning project focus was dental hygiene education. We presented to a group of 5-6 year old boys, at Glynn County Boys & Girls Club. Our 25 participating boys were divided into 3 groups. Each group was then introduced to 1 of 3 hands-on activities; Brushing, Flossing, and Identifying Tooth Friendly Foods. Foam egg cartons were used to simulate teeth for brushing. Each boy was given a dry erase marker to color the cartons where he thought teeth might get dirty. For demonstrating proper brushing technique, we used tongue depressors with felt tips attached. We also used paper egg cartons, to simulate teeth for our flossing instruction. We guided the children in the proper steps of flossing, using yarn to represent dental floss and shreds of tissue paper as food particles. At our third station we presented a felt backed poster board with detachable pictures of different food choices. The children were asked to decide if each food was healthy or not-healthy for their teeth, and to place that food accordingly on the board. Upon completion of the games, each child was asked to verbalize some of the things they learned from us. With correct answers, they were all treated to a healthy snack. Our team finalized this highly entertaining educational experience with gifted goody-bags that included a new toothbrush, dental floss, toothpaste, and a 60 second timer, for each participant.
