Brushing Up on Oral Health: Childhood Oral Health Education in Ellensburg

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

SURC 201

Start Date

21-5-2015

End Date

21-5-2015

Keywords

Community, Health, Education

Abstract

The intent of this service learning project was to develop and execute a health promotion strategy that would improve dental health behavior of first-grade students. The objectives of our promotion were as follows: to survey existing oral health behaviors; teach the importance of dental health; explain the effects of healthy and unhealthy snacks on dental health; teach proper brushing techniques; facilitate positive attitudes towards healthy behavior; present a fun, age-appropriate curriculum; provide tools to support a sustainable change in health behavior; and assess program efficacy. We met our objectives by first creating an interactive and age-appropriate curriculum for the first grade pilot class to which we presented, n=70. We then surveyed the pre-existing dental habits of these students by using a “heads down, hands up” method, in an attempt to eliminate peer influence on student responses. Next, we presented information on the importance of good, consistent dental habits, and healthy snacking. We demonstrated proper brushing techniques, gave the students toothbrushes and toothpaste, and guided them through practicing the techniques they had just learned. We closed our presentation by re-surveying the students and found that they had a significant increase in skills and knowledge. Not only did our data indicate that our health promotion strategy was effective, but the fact that we were asked to come back and present to three additional classes spoke to the overall success of this presentation.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Tishra Beeson

Department/Program

Physical Education, School & Public Health

Additional Mentoring Department

Physical Education, School & Public Health

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
May 21st, 9:40 AM May 21st, 10:00 AM

Brushing Up on Oral Health: Childhood Oral Health Education in Ellensburg

SURC 201

The intent of this service learning project was to develop and execute a health promotion strategy that would improve dental health behavior of first-grade students. The objectives of our promotion were as follows: to survey existing oral health behaviors; teach the importance of dental health; explain the effects of healthy and unhealthy snacks on dental health; teach proper brushing techniques; facilitate positive attitudes towards healthy behavior; present a fun, age-appropriate curriculum; provide tools to support a sustainable change in health behavior; and assess program efficacy. We met our objectives by first creating an interactive and age-appropriate curriculum for the first grade pilot class to which we presented, n=70. We then surveyed the pre-existing dental habits of these students by using a “heads down, hands up” method, in an attempt to eliminate peer influence on student responses. Next, we presented information on the importance of good, consistent dental habits, and healthy snacking. We demonstrated proper brushing techniques, gave the students toothbrushes and toothpaste, and guided them through practicing the techniques they had just learned. We closed our presentation by re-surveying the students and found that they had a significant increase in skills and knowledge. Not only did our data indicate that our health promotion strategy was effective, but the fact that we were asked to come back and present to three additional classes spoke to the overall success of this presentation.