Attack Plaque

Does anyone ever really remember their Dental Hygienist coming to their classroom to talk about teeth and good oral hygiene? The kids won't remember my name. They'll remember me as the lady that carries around a big toothbrush. Seriously! I have to show them how to brush with my big teeth and big toothbrush.


This morning I taught a couple classes at WSR School. They said, "gooooood moooooooorning Miss Beeeeeeev!" I tell them a silly story about the Three Friends teeth and quiz them afterwards. If they get a question right I reward them with stickers. The kids go CRAZY over Sponge Bob stickers! Geez. I had to calm them down a couple of times.








Then I ask for 4 brave volunteers and have them chew on pink tablets to disclose their plaque in their mouth. They are so cute!








They always get a kick out of that! Hey don't laugh! If I gave you a pink disclosing tablet your teeth might look like that too!

February is National Children's Dental Health Month

Me: Open your mouth really WIDE like a shark!!
Kid Patient: *opens REALLY wide*
Me: Good job!
Me: Now, let’s count your teeth! How many teeth do you think you have?!
Kid Patient: Yells ten! *giggles*
Me: 1,2,3 . . 11,12. . . 20! Yikes! You have 20 teeth!
Kid Patient: *cheers*

She is my most favorite patient ever! She opens her mouth really wide, sits still, doesn’t cry, doesn’t bite my fingers, and is a good brusher! Most of all she is always happy to see me! Okay, maybe she’s only happy to see me because after her cleanings I give her stickers and a pink toothbrush=)

Each February, the American Dental Association sponsors National Children’s Dental Health Month to focus on providing oral health education to all children despite their economic status. The best part about my job is going out to the public and private schools in Saipan to teach the kids about good oral hygiene and how to brush their teeth. Lori and I tell them a story about teeth, ask them questions, and give them stickers. You hope that they remember the importance of brushing. But good oral hygiene starts at home with the parents. Help your kids avoid unnecessary tooth pain by taking them to their dentist every six months. You can use these tools to help encourage your kids to brush here .

Science Never Sucks!

I taught good oral hygiene, tobacco and betal nut cessation in Bree's science class this morning. I was a little hesitant about teaching middle schoolers because the other hygienist didn't have such a good experience with them before. I was just hoping I wouldn't get any attitude or wise cracks. I think for the most part it went really well. Bree's class was very smart and attentive.
I thought it would be fun to disclose the plaque in their mouth with the red tablets and to also have them look at bacteria from their mouth using the microscopes. The kids had fun laughing at each other and their pink teeth as well as looking at slides of bacteria from their mouths. Did you know that you have over 300 strains of bacteria in your mouth? Gross, i know.
Another important topic I wanted to talk about was tobacco and betal nut cessation. I asked the class how many of them chew and I'd say that about half of them raised their hands. So slowly I listed all the reasons why betal nut and tobacco chewing was bad for them. I'm hoping that I got through to them. Its just hard to see them start a nasty habit like chewing at such a young age. Anyways, Thanks Bree for letting me come teach your class!

Healthy, Happy Smiles

Before I moved to Saipan I worked at a Dr. Caplanis' periodontal dental office in California that specialized in gum disease and implant dentistry. I loved the challenge of working with specialized scary cases. I learned so much from Dr. C and was able to apply that knowledge here in Saipan. Most of my patients that I ever worked on were adults 40 and older so I never really worked on anyone younger than 35.

Working at the clinic here in Saipan is alittle bit different. I see a whole age range of patients from age 1 to older adults. Its not bad but I guess I'm just so use to working just on adults. I have to be honest and say that I prefer working an adults more than kids. Kids are cute but they're really challenging to work on especially when they have the "wiggles" and when their crying in my chair =(

Although working on kids is challenging for me I find that teaching them is alot more fun! Today I was able to teach a Kindergarten class and a 3rd & 4th grade class at Saipan SDA School. The older kids were smart and quick to answer all my questions. The Kindergarten class was hilarious! They are still learning how to not call out and raise their hands. They made me laugh alot in class today and reminded how much fun teaching really is.

Anyway, here's some pics of the cute kids. Counting the days to see my niece and nephew in May=)

At It Again.

I taught two fifth grade classes at San Vicente Elementary School. My favorite thing: hearing the kids laugh at my silly story about the importance of their teeth. Classroom management can be tough especially if the kids are hyper. I have a new found respect for teachers and what they put up with. Patience is really key. Some cute questions they asked me: what do you do if your girl friend doesn’t brush her teeth and are you single? Twas a great day.



Btw, still uploading pics from my Palau diving trip. I'm working on a slide show. Stay tuned!=)

I miss Palau already! Kayaking around the Rock Islands.

Bunny Ears

Happy Happy. The kids have been fantastic these last few days. I taught two classes at the Saipan Community School. The first class was the 7th and 8th graders. I noticed how very attentive they were especially when they knew I would quiz them at the end and hand out prizes for correct answers. The sixth graders were hilarious! The class was divided. The boys on one side and girls on the other. It took me awhile to get them to sit together. My presentation overall went okay. I kept messing up the story. I'm a bad story teller! I kill stories and jokes=(

The Manamko House

This fellow was very attentive! He asked me like ten questions. Okay, some questions were repeats because he didn't remember that he had asked me the question before.

I love my schedule at work! I get to teach elemantary kids and the senior citizens about the importance of good oral home care twice a month. I love working the clinical aspect of dental hygiene but stepping out of the clinic and teaching instead is awesome. I may consider getting my masters in teaching or public health instead of going into dentistry.

This morning I spoke infront of the seniors at the Manamko House in Garapan. Manamko means "elderly" in the Chammaro language. Quite a lively bunch if you ask me. They love playing bingo, playing softball, and they love to bowl=) I really didn't know how many seniors were going to be there. For some reason I thought there would be only ten to twelve. When i walked into the cafeteria there were like 40-50 seniors! I had to speak with a microphone and the clinic coordinator, Walter, was kind enough to translate in Chamarro for me. I'd say that out of 40-50 people maybe like 5 were really paying attention to me! lol They were very cute. Like little kids that couldn't sit still for more than 10 mins. I still had a great time with them though.

After speaking, I handed out tubes made out of sponges for the seniors to insert their toothbrushes into. The bigger sponge around the toothbrush gives them a better grip especially if they have arthritis or dexterity problems. Funny thing happened, as I was passing out toothbrushes I noticed that I was five toothbrushes short. I couldn't believe that the seniors were fighting over who should get the toothbrushes. Seriously! I had to go back to the clinic and get some more cause I didn't want anyone mad at me. It was a good first day of teaching=)