My 3rd grade oral hygiene presentation

[NurseWeasel]

Went GREAT! We really engaged the kids, the teachers (and the unexpected students from another nursing school who observed us) seemed to enjoy it, and we had fun.

We started out by passing out 4x6 cards with giant, colorful clipart images of people smiling (with teeth, lol) to all the kids. These were numbered with questions on the back, and were the cards I was originally going to use for the 'reveal' puzzle or memory game. As I gave my talk, I'd stop at key points and ask "now who has #7?" and the kid would read the question (where is the dentin in a tooth?) and then venture a guess. If he/she didn't know the answer, another kid would have an opportunity to guess and then we would discuss it. Then we demonstrated a Water Pik.

My teammate then brought out the huge stuffed elephant with the human teeth and we called up the kid who had "Help Ellie brush her teeth" on her card. We used a timer to demonstrate how LONG 3 minutes is. Then we called up the kid with the "Help Ellie floss her teeth" card and demonstrated proper flossing technique with our fingers as the teeth (see prior post for better explanation) before he flossed Ellie's teeth.

Next was Mr. Gross Mouth, with all the skank from chewing tobacco, which utterly delighted and grossed out the kids, lol. About then we ran out of time, so we wrapped up with a few Q&A's and passed out toothbrushes and toothpaste which we ended up buying with our own money since none of the dentists / orthodontists around here were cooperative.

The teacher asked to keep our visual aids (the cards, and a giant (24x30) extremely colorful drawing of a tooth, for later use. That was flattering. She also kept the handout packets to pass out today (the presentation was yesterday) since they were continuing with oral care today. The packets included a word search, a crossword puzzle, a brushing chart and information on mouth guards & tooth emergencies, a list of web sites, answers to the 2 games, and... I think I'm forgetting one thing. Anyway they were nifty little packets.

Thank you all for your support and ideas. We had a blast and were told that we did very well.

[howie122832]

Congratulations! When I was a dental assistant, I used to lOVE February because it's Denta; health month, and I always went and talked to the Elementary schools in the area! It was really cool how the kids are so receptive! I'm glad that your presentation went well!

[anitame]

Wow! It sounds like you did a great job. Excellent ideas!

[AmyLiz]

Yay! I'm glad it went so well for you! All that hard work paid off! Congrats!