The Dental Assistant class at Ross Medical Education Center in Ann Arbor, MI put their skills in motion this month. They visited Ms. Sangeorzan’s kindergarten class at Carpenter Elementary School. The Dental Assistant students put their heads together, coming up with some awesome activities, which definitely made quite the impact on their future patients.
The little tikes were shown a cool, colorful video that showed them how to brush their teeth the right way, twice a day, for two whole minutes. Many of the students were eager to shamelessly admit they felt two minutes was way too long! They were also given the opportunity to identify foods that their little teeth love and hate. At first, it was a little difficult to help them understand the difference between teeth and bellies.
Students were divided into pairs and practiced drawing healthy smiles, teeth, and cavities. During this activity, one student drew a tooth while the other dirtied the tooth. Their final task was to clean the mess, left behind by bad foods. They were able to use what they’d learned from the video to brush away all of the plaque, leaving a smiling happy tooth.
The Dental Assistant students used their creativity to teach the kindergartners how to floss. With recycled egg cartons, play dough, and some ribbon, these children learned the art of flossing. The children couldn’t believe how much food gets left behind after their favorite meals.
Ann Arbor’s Dental Assistant students were truly touched. They had no idea how passionate they were about the careers they are pursuing until all those little eyes were focused on them. They left the classroom feeling good because they were finally able to “pay it forward”.
