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THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016 • CLARK’S CROSSING GAZETTE
Dental hygiene 101 for preschoolers By HILARY KLASSEN hklassen@ccgazette.ca What does a dental hygienist do? Some little people found out when they visited a Saskatoon dental clinic recently. About 14 preschoolers from the Country Kids Cooperative Preschool in South Corman Park were rotated in pairs through five stations in a dental office, to learn, and to help reduce anxiety about visits to the dentist. Dental Hygienist Nicole Pingert says preschool teacher, Sima Arnold, approached her about doing a session on dental hygiene for Dental Health Month. Pingert’s son attends the preschool. Pingert was immediately on board, and got permission from her boss to bring the kids into the clinic for a field trip. The kids had a ton of fun, according to Pingert. “They got to press buttons, give each other ‘rides’ on the dental chair, squirt water, and blow air using the equipment,” she said. For one station kids were in gloves, masks and safety glasses. “It was pretty cute!” Kids moved through a “tooth talk” station, then proceeded to the brushing station, the ‘ride the dental chair’ station and finally the ‘be a dental hygienist’ station. They ‘cleaned’ a laminated version of their teacher’s smile, using spray and suction. Kelly Watson, director of the Saskatchewan Dental Hygienist’s Association, did a media prep on the ‘be a dental hygienist’ station. The focus throughout the field trip was on National Dental Hygiene Week. There was also a ‘snack
attack station.’ “We talked about healthy food choices and sugar content of their favorite drinks!” said Pingert. “A 500 millilitre bottle of pop has 17 teaspoons of sugar.” Pingert heard from parents after who said their kid had kept their gloves or mask on for the rest of the day, and one kept calling her parent to her room for her ‘dental appointment.’ Pingert pulled material together from education kits provided by public health both a Saskatoon kit and a Saskatchewan kit. Kids also heard about how oral health is connected to health in the entire body and linked to inflammation in myriad ways. There are compelling reasons for teaching Saskatchewan kids about oral health at a young age. “Saskatchewan is ranked third highest in Canada for dental cavities among children. Only Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are higher. Saskatchewan has got to do something at an earlier age as far as education goes,” said Pingert. She added another statistic that shocked her is that one in five surgeries in children under general anesthetic in Saskatchewan is to fix their teeth. “That’s millions of dollars in health care. As dental professionals it makes us sad because we want better stats in Saskatchewan.” The goal of the field trip was to raise awareness and create a fun, hands-on experience for the kids. “And we definitely managed that,” said Pingert. She had the assistance of seven dental hygienists and says they are excited to do this again.
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PHOTO: NICOLE PINGERT
Anna takes a ride in the dentist’s chair when South Corman Park preschool students took a field day to a Saskatoon clinic. A cuter assortment of budding dental hygienists would be hard to find!
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