October highlights need for dental hygiene

October is Dental Hygiene Month and dentists and hygienists from Seventh Day Adventist have started doing their rounds to promote dental hygiene awareness, especially among children in the CNMI.

Dentist Lori Demaine and hygienist Kelly Whapham started their dental awareness visits with a presentation at the Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School Wednesday morning. Demaine and Whapham showed kindergarten and elementary students the proper way of brushing their teeth.

Demaine said the project coincides with the nationwide observance of National Dental Hygiene Month.

She said that, starting Wednesday, she and her colleagues would visit all schools in the CNMI every Wednesday of the week. They will do presentations and would give away free toothbrushes, stickers, coupons, and other stuff for children.

Although the Dental Hygiene Month is for everyone, Demaine said she would like to focus on children because, according to a research study, three out of four children in the United States have at least one cavity.

“Cavity is a big deal,” said Demaine. “The celebration is actually great timing because the Halloween celebration is coming. Trick or Treat means a lot of candies and sweets.”

She added that children must be aware of how to take care of their teeth after eating too many sweets. Educating children on dental hygiene could mean healthier and stronger teeth and gums.

After the presentation, the children were given coupons for them to present for a free consultation at the SDA Dental Clinic located at Quartermaster Road. Demaine said that the Seventh Day Adventist Dental Clinic is the only private clinic on Saipan that is dedicated to serving and helping the community with their dental concerns.

GTC principal Manuela Babauta said she is glad that a private firm such as SDA Dental Clinic is ready to help the children of the Commonwealth with their dental issues.

“We must teach kids that they need to brush their teeth daily,” she said.

The program was also part of the school’s mission to extend to students the practice of a healthy lifestyle.

The American Dental Hygienists’ Association sponsored the nationwide observation of the month of October as National Dental Hygiene Month. Each year ADHA chooses a specific dental hygiene-related topic to focus on and this year’s topic is tobacco and heart disease.

ADHA is encouraging dental hygienists across the nation to get involved in the 2005 NDHM effort to increase public awareness of these tobacco-related risk factors, and how dental hygienists save lives by recognizing the symptoms of life-threatening diseases before they get serious.