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Fall 2017
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A REASON TO SMILE Schoolchildren received free dental screenings at Give Kids a Smile Day, where about 30 Hofstra student volunteers helped with registration, data collection, and dental health education.
About 1,100 children from several local communities, including Hempstead, Uniondale, Westbury and Roosevelt, received free dental screenings at the annual Give Kids a Smile Day. Sponsored by the Nassau County Dental Society (NCDS), Give Kids a Smile Day is part of a national campaign by the ADA Foundation to provide care and raise awareness of the need for good oral health. NCDS’s program this year focused on children ages 5 to 7 from low-income, underserved communities in Nassau County. About 30 undergraduate and graduate student volunteers from Hofstra’s School of Health Professions and Human Services assisted with registration, data
collection, and dental health education at the event, which was held at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City in March. Some also worked as student ambassadors and gave museum tours. Faculty and students in the Master of Public Health (MPH) program were responsible for all data entry and analysis of information regarding each child’s screening, “There is a real need for this event among the communities we invite,” said Danielle Piriz, a dental hygienist and 2015 MPH graduate who was a key organizer. “For the past three years, about 35 percent of the children we screened had multiple areas of possible dental cavities and were in urgent need of dental care. Almost half of the children we see each year have not
been to a dentist before coming to our event.” The program also alerts families that there are local, federally qualified health centers such as NuHealth where children can receive regular dental care for free or for a reduced fee. Dozens of volunteer dentists and dental hygienists from across the region provided the children with free dental health screenings and fluoride varnish treatments. The children also toured the museum, watched an educational video, saw a puppet show, met characters such as Mr. Met and Ronald McDonald, and ate healthy snacks as part of the event.
Table of Contents Campus and Community News ...................................... 1-5 Events ............................................................................... 6-9 Lectures and Readings....................................................... 7 Theater, Dance and Music .............................................. 8-9 Hofstra University Museum ..........................................10-11
Community Services and Programs...............................................................12-14 Festival ................................................................................15 Hofstra Athletics .................................................................15 The Defamation Experience .............................. Back Cover