Spilyay Tymoo
Warm Springs, Oregon
June 6, 1996 9
IHS dental activities keep community children
February, March and
April were busy months
for the Warm Springs
Dental Clinic, both with
direct patient care and
with the community
activities. February kicked
off with National
Children's Dental Health
Month. The month was
filled with elementary
school activities including
dental screenings,
sealants, presentations,
coloring contests and the
initiation of a school
brushing program.
Another major event in
February was the Second
Annual Dental Open
House.
At the Open House over
400 children visited the
Warm Springs dental clinic
for a fun yet educational
experience. We had almost
100 more kids than last
year. Two classrooms
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Erica watches kids brush the teeth of
"My smile is important because..."
Coloring Contest participants were asked to answer the
following question, "My smile is important because. . . ".
Here are some of their responses.
"It shows my clean teeth that I brush everyday"
Tianna Herkshan-1st
"It's a pretty way to show how you feel"
Jacoba Best-1st
"I like my teeth to be clean"
"I like to show my shiny teeth"
It helps me look pretty"
"I like to show my clean teeth"
i r - - - -- '
would tour the clinic every
thirty minutes to learn
about dental instr u ments,
equipment, dental health
and watch a dental puppet
show. Headstart three and
four year olds and the
Warm Springs Elementary
School grades
kindergarten through
second grade were invited
to attend this dental health
community event. Some
of the educational tour
highlights were helping
Dr. Ken fix an imaginary
cavity on Mr. Alligator,
seeing how x-rays are
taken, counting teeth with
Dr. Cieslik, and learning
some interesting dental
nutrition facts. On display
were various cans of pod.
Actual cubes of sugar were
placed beside each can
representing its sugar
content. Students were
amazed at the high
puppet show animals.
Rudy Stevens-4th
Cyrille Mitchell-4th
Johnni Smith-2nd
Byron Scott-Kindergarten
amount of sugar in just
one can of pop. Healthy
and sugarless alternatives
to replace pop were then
shown to the children. Real
teeth were also on display
for the children to view,
These included bad teeth
with cavities and good
teeth without cavities. All
the kids liked the good
teeth and wanted their
teeth to be like the ones
with no holes. The dental
health puppet show was
another big hit this year.
Howard the hygiene
hmmri hrnnoht tn life hv
Dr. Rick Vauehn. was back
along with his new friend
Filmore the frog played
by Rena Adams. This
year's puppet showtheme
was good brushing habits
make you want to shout!
At the end of each tour
every kid received a gift
bag donated by CREST,
which included Crest
Activity Books, Crest
bookmarkers, stickers and
children's dental health
pamphlets. All these items
placed in the gift bags
were donated to the dental
clinic at no cost by the
Crest Man, Archie San
Romani, a representive
from Procter & Gamble.
One hundred first and
second grade students
were screened by the
Warm Springs Dental
Clinic for dental sealants.
This is the third year the
dental clinic has done a
sealant program at Warm
Springs Elementary.
Consent forms were sent
home with all first and
second grade students.
Only those students who
returned signed consent
forms were screened. In
an joint effort with the
WSE school those students
found to need sealants
were transported to the
dental clinic via school
bus. A total of 63 students
received sealants on their
first permanent back
teeth. Prior to the actual
placement of sealants
education was provided
for WSE teachers and
students on the
importance and
placement of sealants.
Dental sealants are a
plastic like barrier which
protect the chewing
surfaces of the back teeth
from cavities. Children
6yrs old should be
screened for this easy and
excellent protection for
their teeth. There is no
reason for a child in Warm
Springs NOT to have
sealants.
Initiating the Warm
Springs Elementary
School brushing Program
was a new experience for
the Warm Springs Dental
Clinic.Erica, the dental
hygienist, presented the
brushing program idea at
a WSE school teacher
meeting. With the support
of principal Dawn Smith
and the teaching staff the
first brushing program
ever at the Warm Springs
Elementary School was a
success.The dental clinic
provided proper
toothbrushing and oral
health education to all
classrooms at WSE, along
with toothbrushes and
brushing charts. Our
thanks to Warm Springs
Forest Products for
donating wood to make
toothbrush holders for all
the participating
classrooms. A classroom
hrushine contest was held
to motivate students to
brush their teeth. The
winners won their class a
pizza party! More detailed
inf or mation will follow on
: the WSEbrushing program
and the winners of the
pizza parties in the next
newspaper issue.
Another activity
honoring National
Children's Dental Health
Month was a coloring
contest organized by the
dental clinic. This was the
second year the Dudley
Coloring Contest ran for
grades kindergarten to
fourth grade at the
elementary school. The
Dental assistant shows children how
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i
Puppet shows were presented at
famous Dudley the
Dinosaur was back again
to help teach students the
importance of daily
brushing. Dudley is the
American Dental
Association's mascot for
oral health. Each grade
had first, second and third
place winners. Each
winner received an award
ribbon and a Dudley
award certificate. Their
coloring picture, award
ribbon and personal photo
were displayed in the
dental waiting area for all
patients toenjoy. Then the
awards disolavwas moved
to the elementary school
library for students and
teachers to enjoy.
Who would of thought
we could top all the
excitement of last year's
National Children s Dental
Health Month. But we did!
So much that a lot of the
excite ment ran over to the
month of March. During
the month of March a
Dental Hygiene student
from Oregon Health and
Sciences University came
out to assist with clinic
patients and community
events. Together we did
dental infection control
presentations at both the
much sugar is in popular drinks.
J' " - - dL. '1'"" , ..... "T "it,"
Warm Springs Elementary
Coloring Contest results noted
Kindergarten
1st place-Elena Guzman
2nd place-Chantel Clements
3rd place-Byron Scott
First Grade
1st place-Tianna Herkshan
2nd place-Jacoba Best
3rd place-Matilda Wallulatum
Second Grade
1st place-Julian Wallulatum
2nd place-Dorian Miller
3rd place-Johnni Smith
smiling
:
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m ft
i t -
the Dental Clinic open house.
Warm Springs and Madras
elementary schools. Other
presentations were at
Headstart and the Senior
Center. The past couple of
months have definitely
been busy ones for the
Warm Springs Dental
Clinic, but the rewards are
well worth it. We
appreciate all the thank -you
pictures the classes
sent back to us.
Familiarizing children
with those who work at
the dental clinic makes our
job much easier. But most
of all we appreciate all
those who helped make
this a success. The Warm
Springs Dental Clinic
would like to thank again
the following people: the
community health
educators Anita Davis,
Judy Charley and Anson
Begay for helping to stuff
over 400 gift bags, Rick
Saunders of WS Forest
Products and Archie San
Romani from Crest Procter
& Gamble, and the
Elementary School staff
for all their hard work,
For now stay on the
healthy path to a great
Smile,
By Erica D. Foster
Dental Hygienist
Third Grade
1st place-Jacquelyn Moody
2nd place-Manuel Greene
3rd place-Eustolia Gurrola-Smith
Fourth Grade
1st place-Cyrille Mitchell
2nd place-Rudy Stevens
3rd place-Emilena Suppah