SBHC & UTHSCSA Partner to Offer Dental Hygiene Education to area Elementary School
MHM has had a longstanding relationship with the Dental School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). In 2003, a partnership with the UTHSCSA Dental School and MHM provided school-based prevention programs to provide dental screenings, fluoride treatments, and dental sealants for second-graders in the Edgewood Independent School District. In 2003, this partnership brought about a comprehensive dental care plan to children at the Ricardo Salinas Clinic.
More recently, MHM’s School Based Health Centers and the UTHSCSA Dental School collectively worked together to bring about dental hygiene education to elementary students in the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District.
This initiative, which started ten years ago through a grant provided by MHM to the UTHSC Division of Dental Hygiene, was created to establish a Pediatric Clinical Educational Training Rotation program for dental hygiene students. Through this initiative, dental hygiene students obtain training and instruction while providing direct care and education to school-aged children.
Working in close collaboration with MHM’s School Based Health Centers (SBHC) serving the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, and as part of their program curriculum, UTHSCSA dental hygiene students provide Dental Hygiene presentations to prekindergarten and 1st grade students in the district. At the conclusion of the semester, approximately 800 elementary students will have participated in these dental education offerings.
To facilitate, the SBHC and dental hygiene students from the UTHSCSA created “Tooth Fairy Island” as a means to capture the attention of students in this critical area. Included in the Tooth Fairy Island curriculum are lessons on Preventing Germ Transmission, Tooth-friendly Snacks, and Tooth brushing Demonstration. Using a magnetic tooth board, large toothbrush, worksheets, and a little music, elementary students are educated on the importance of proper dental care. Dental hygiene student, Leslie Griffith sings to the tune of, “row, row, row your boat…brush, brush, brush your teeth, morning and at night, everywhere and all around so they’ll be clean and white!”
Another student reflects, “I love that the children get excited with visitors and are excited to see me teach them how to brush on my dinosaur with large teeth.”
To learn more about MHM’s SBHC, visit: www.mhm.org/sbhc.
Shirika la UTHSCSA linatoa elimu ya usafi wa meno kwa shule za msingi za eneo hilo, na Shule ya Matibabu ya meno ya Chuo Kikuu cha Texas Health Science Center huko San Antonio (UTHSCSA) inatoa mafunzo ya usafi wa meno kwa wanafunzi wa shule ya msingi. Katika 2003, ushirikiano na UTHS, Shule ya Matibabu ya meno ya UTHS na MHM ulitoa programu za kuzuia shule ili kutoa uchunguzi wa meno, matibabu ya fluoride, na sealants za meno kwa wanafunzi wa darasa la pili katika Wilaya ya Shule ya Uhuru ya Edgewood. Mwaka 2003 mpango huo ulifikia kuanzishwa kwa kituo cha matibabu ya meno cha Ricardo Salinas Clinic. Shule ya Matibabu ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule ya Shule. Mpango huu, ambao ulianza miaka kumi iliyopita kupitia ruzuku iliyotolewa na MHM kwa Idara ya Usafi wa Meno ya UTHS, uliundwa kuanzisha Programu ya Mzunguko wa Mafunzo ya Kliniki ya Watoto kwa wanafunzi wa usafi wa meno. Kupitia mpango huu, wanafunzi wa usafi wa meno hupata mafunzo na maagizo wakati wa kutoa huduma ya moja kwa moja na elimu kwa watoto wa umri wa shule. Kwa kushirikiana na Shule ya MHSH (Shule ya msingi ya afya ya shule) inayohudumia Schertz-Civolo-Universal City ISD, na kama sehemu ya mtaala wao wa programu, wanafunzi wa usafi wa meno wa UTHSCSA hutoa maonyesho ya usafi wa meno kwa wanafunzi wa shule ya mapema na darasa la kwanza katika wilaya. Katika kipindi cha miezi miwili, wanafunzi wa shule ya msingi watakuwa wamejiunga na programu ya elimu ya meno. "Kwa hivyo, kwa sababu ya kuvutia kwa wanafunzi wa UTHS na wanafunzi wa usafi wa meno, ""Tooth Fairy Island"" iliundwa kama njia ya kukamata umakini wa wanafunzi katika eneo hili muhimu." Mtaala wa Kisiwa cha Tooth Fairy unajumuisha masomo kuhusu Kuzuia Uhamisho wa Virusi, Vyakula Vya Kupendeza meno, na Maonyesho ya Kusafisha Meno. Kwa kutumia ubao wa meno wenye sumaku, mswaki mkubwa, karatasi za kazi, na muziki kidogo, wanafunzi wa shule ya msingi hufundishwa umuhimu wa kutunza meno kwa njia inayofaa. "Mwanafunzi wa afya ya meno, Leslie Griffith, anaimba kwa wimbo wa ""Row, Row, Row Your Boat"" - brush, brush, brush your teeth, morning and night, everywhere and all around so they'll be clean and white.""Mwanafunzi mwingine anaeleza, ""Ninapenda kwamba watoto wanafurahi na wageni na wanafurahi kuona mimi kuwafundisha jinsi ya kupiga mswaki kwenye dinosaur yangu mwenye meno makubwa."