Each year in February, Shawna Banks, the Lead Instructor of the Dental Assistant program at Ross Medical Education Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, takes her Dental Assistant class on a field trip to local King’s Elementary School for Children’s Dental Health Month. “The elementary students love it and so do our Dental Assistant students,” shared Campus Director Robin Re. Each year, the visit is looked forward to both by the children in the elementary school and the students at Ross.
This year they set up several stations in the gymnasium for fun and learning. They had a brushing and flossing station, a nutrition station, a tooth emoji station, a tooth fairy, and decaying apple station. The elementary kids loved it and the Ross students had so much fun teaching the elementary students all about dental health. Many of the Dental Assistant students were very excited to be at the school and have the opportunity to work with the children. In fact, some of them even expressed interest in working in pediatrics following the trip.
“I have always enjoyed working with children, but I’ve never had the opportunity to share so much knowledge about a subject that I am so personally passionate about,” shared Dental Assistant program student Samantha Nguyen. “At the elementary level, children typically have a very trusting nature and they rely heavily on their elders for guidance. This is a crucial time in a child’s life when teachers and parents should be molding them for the future. Developing good oral hygiene habits at a young age is a simple and easy way to avoid many oral issues as their life progresses. There is no honor greater than helping shape a child’s future and the honor only increases as the number of children increases. The bottom line is that I love children and enjoy working with them. My desire to make learning and practicing good oral hygiene a more positive experience for kids has only increased with this experience.”
Another student, Hannah Wright, agreed, “my experience at Kings Elementary was awesome! I loved seeing all the different personalities in the kids and seeing their faces light up when we told them they were going to me making tooth emojis. They all seemed like they enjoyed being there and that’s what made my experience so awesome, because when I try and teach someone something, I like to make sure they are enjoying it and having fun and not bored out of their mind! It made me definitely want to go into pediatrics.”