Day Leads Dental Health and Hygiene Demonstration for Local Middle Schoolers
On Friday, February 9th, junior Sawyer Day visited Roseville Middle School to provide education on dental health and hygiene. Day, along with the Monmouth College Pre-Health Club, organized and executed the event, consisting of various demonstrations and lessons on the importance of dental hygiene. “I got the idea because I shadowed for a while at a clinic in Galesburg,” said Day. He described how he would experience many patients with dental issues that could have been easily resolved if they were addressed sooner. “I think it comes down to education,” Day said, adding that the price of oral hygiene could also play a role. “I set out to do this program to attack all of those factors. In terms of education, I taught a lot of them how to floss properly.” According to Day, 75 percent of school children worldwide have cavities. He hopes educating the general public on dental hygiene at a young age the percentage will decline. He also talked about the impact vaping has on dental health and the long-term effects of nicotine on teeth.
Day, a pre-dental student, expressed the importance of dental hygiene in his own life. “I can see from shadowing in this area that a lot of people are uneducated about it… there are a lot of underprivileged people that can’t afford to go to the dentist,” said Day. “My goal is to show them that there is a lot that they can do that doesn’t involve going into the dentist.”.
Mia Martino Features Editor