By Rebecca Rakoczy | Photos by Bill Roa
Perimeter College dental hygiene students provided sealants and fluoride treatments, plus a dose of education to students at Hightower Elementary School in DeKalb County as part of an all-day oral health fair in February. For some kids, it may be the only dental care they get.
“In Georgia there are many barriers to dental care, including cost, lack of dental insurance, transportation and widespread dental health professional shortage areas,” said Pam Cushenan, a dental hygiene instructor. “We want to make a positive impact on our most vulnerable populations. And our students also gain a great appreciation of how they can make a difference.”
Perimeter students also provide regular oral health education at battered women’s shelters, homeless shelters and adult day care centers, as well as oral health exams and cleanings in Perry and Moultrie, Ga., during biennial Georgia Mission of Mercy and migrant farmer health care events.
For more than 20 years, Perimeter’s dental hygiene students have teamed up with the Georgia Department of Public Health to deliver education and sealants in the Perimeter dental hygiene clinic for low-income and at-risk elementary school students in DeKalb County. The program was expanded in 2014 to increase access and provide services at the elementary school.
Using a large plastic mouth model, dental hygiene student James Oda shows students the proper way to brush and floss.
Dental hygiene student Yanmin Wang places a sealant (an acrylic coating on the chewing surfaces of the molars to protect the tooth from decay) on a young patient’s teeth.
A young Hightower student gets his teeth cleaned by a dental hygiene student. Perimeter College students provided cleanings, sealants and fluoride treatments to children at Hightower Elementary who brought permission slips.
Hightower students show off the oral hygiene bags they received at the health fair. More than 800 students received toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss at the event.