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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2005)
Clinic Health CHA-MAY WEEYA - MEDICINE TALK Siletz Community Join Kids on Kick Butts Day Charles W Grim, assistant surgeon general and director of the Indian Health Service, visits with Jody Green in the lab of the Siletz Clinic. Toothtalk by Teri (the tooth fairy) Coddington, RDH SVS Sealant Project Returns How Are Sealants Applied? The Siletz Community Health Clinic again is holding its annual Siletz Valley School Sealant Project. Every spring, the clinic offers free sealants to Siletz Valley School children. Why Are Sealants Necessary? The purpose of sealants is to preserve teeth before they decay. When the back teeth are developing, depressions and Each tooth takes only a few minutes to seal. First, the teeth that will be sealed are cleaned. The chewing surfaces are then etched (roughened) with a weak acidic solution to help the sealant adhere to the teeth. Finally, the sealant is brushed on the tooth enamel and allowed to harden. Some sealants need a special curing light to help them harden. grooves form in the chewing surfaces of ADA Supports Use of Sealants the enamel. These irregularities are called The American Dental Association recognizes that sealants can play an im portant role in preventing tooth decay. When properly applied and maintained, they can successfully protect the chew ing surfaces of your child’s teeth. pits and fissures. They are impossible to keep clean because toothbrush bristles cannot reach into them. Pits and fissures are snug places for plaque and bits Kindergarten through fifth-graders at Siletz Valley School will celebrate Kick Butts Day on April 13. This nationally celebrated holiday helps youth around the nation call attention to the need for to bacco prevention for kids. Since March 1, the kids have been working with DeAnna Pearl, Tobacco Prevention and Education Program coor dinator, on a lot of activities around not smoking, tobacco abuse pre vention, asthma and sec ondhand smoke aware ness, refusal skills, and tobacco marketing awareness. Children already know a lot about long-term smoking and its dangers. Next comes bringing this to another level and helping children understand the im mediate consequences that commercial tobacco abuse brings to them. “Kids this age are very prone to start ing their lifelong relationship with com mercial tobacco abuse. With education and intervention, we can prevent hundreds of youth and young adults from lighting up,” said DeAnna. Kindergarten through second-graders at SVS have pledged to give hugs and thanks to family members who smoke outside. “My mom smokes outside because she said it was not good for me to breathe the smoke,” says a second-grader. The third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classes are doing their part by participat ing in a poster contest. The top three place winners will receive a prize and their post ers will be displayed in the school from April 11-15, along with information from the Siletz Community Health Clinic. What You Can Do According to a new study in the Jour nal of Addiction (March 2005), parents who quit smoking when their children are young are more likely to have kids who don’t smoke or quit as young adults, according to re searchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Parents who are smokers and who quit before their children are in third grade can greatly influence their children to not grow up to be smokers. The study further shows that quitting after your child is in the third grade has little to no effect on the smoking or not smoking choices their children make in the future. Kids who smoke on a regular basis are beginning as young as age 8. Kindergarten through fifth-graders of Siletz Valley School ask you to help spread the word and encourage tobacco preven tion for youth by celebrating Kick Butts Day in your community on April 13. If you have any questions or comments, please call DeAnna Pearl. TPEP coordi nator, at 1-800-648-0449, ext. 1659, or 541-444-9659. of food to hide. By form Healthy Dental Hygiene Habits ing a thin covering over the pits and fissures, seal- < A total preven tion program includes regular visits ants keep out plaque and food, thus decreasing the risk of decay. to a dentist, the use of fluoride, daily brush ing and floss ing, and limiting Who Should Have Sealants Applied? Children receive the greatest benefit sugar-rich foods. If these measures are followed and sealants are used from having sealants ap plied to their teeth, espe on the child's teeth as well, the risk cially to newly erupted perma of decay can be reduced or may even nent teeth. Sealants are recommended for surfaces of the teeth, but is least effective be eliminated. Parents who have children between first and fifth grade should look for a con sent form from Siletz Valley School in April. This form and a medical history need to be completed and returned to the in pits and fissures. school by April 22. all children, even those who receive topi cal applications of fluoride or who live in communities with fluoridated water. Fluoride helps fight decay on the smooth 16 • Siletz News • April 2005 The Siletz Clinic held its annual papathon in February. The Mardi Gras theme was reflected in the waiting room decorations and in the goody bags that were handed out to the nearly 30 women who received their annual exams that days. The goody hags contained information on such topics as breast cancer aware ness, manicure kits, and packets offlower seeds. Clinic staff also conducted drawings and gave away fleece blankets, T-shirts, gift packs, and one-hour massages. Although all women were welcomed to the papathon, the staff targeted mothers with tribal children and people who had not visited the clinic in awhile. Lisa Taylor, family nurse practitioner, and Erin Hume, physician assistant, provided the screenings that day.
