This month, try an idea that wins awards - the Alliance of the Utah Dental Association took it upon themselves to make dental health kits available to every school in their state and so can you!
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| Representatives from the Alliance of the Utah Dental Association |
Purpose:
Volunteers:
7
Volunteer Hours:
40
Total Cost:
$2500.00
People Reached:
Thousands
Project Description:
In the past, there has been
access to dental health kits in the media centers and in private homes of
Alliance members in the major metropolitan areas of Utah. Teachers and dental
family members have used them for classroom presentations. This year our state
Alliance decided that it would be great to have these kits available for the
benefit of the children in all areas of our state.
We applied for a FDHE grant and
we were awarded $1000 to help with the project. We put together 25 kits
containing: Large set of teeth and large toothbrush, ten test tubes of sugar
showing the content in certain foods and a wooden holder for the test tubes, a
germ puppet, an apron with two pockets (used to show examples of good and bad
foods or used to show items from a dentist's office), two silk screened T-shirts
with a happy tooth used to show how to floss, ADA book "Smile
Starts," Book "Ready, Set, Brush" from the AADA, a lesson plan
and reproducibles.
We contacted 25 school districts
in rural Utah to ask them where to send the kit and to make them aware it would
be coming. We assembled them, packed them in shipping boxes and sent them
through UPS. The cost of each one including shipping came to, $92. We sent
letters to every elementary school in Utah to let the teachers know that these
kits were available. The kits were mailed in January, so they could be used
during National Dental Health Month in February.
The Utah Dental Association sends
a magazine to all members in Utah called the "UDAction." In March's
edition, I wrote an article encouraging dentists to teach dental health in an
elementary school classroom. I told them about the availability of the dental
health kits throughout the state.
At our Utah Alliance convention
luncheon in February, we had a dental health project. We assembled an
additional item to go into the kits. It consists of a metal cookie sheet, with
a vinyl white tooth outline on it. We cut out a variety of laminated foods.
Those that are sugary and sticky, we put a magnet on the back and those that
are good for teeth have no magnet. This will teach that sugary foods stick to
our teeth and may cause decay if not properly cleaned off. This project cost
$400.
Amazing work indeed, find the full project details and keep an eye out for future member projects at AllianceADA.org - just click on the idea button and be ready to be inspired!
This year 50 Alliance members received Member Project Awards for creative, informative and innovative projects.
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| Wendy Zent, Mary Ellen Psaltis, Molly Bickford, Patsy Dumas, and Debbie Torbush |
To get a copy of the Member Project Award CD with instructions on how to complete any of the award winning projects just email Emily in the Central Office. Emily@AllianceADA.org
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