Dental Hygiene Education in Mexico

We had a workshop at a public school for special needs children in Cozumel, Mexico. 

34 students and 40 parents attended with each student receiving a dental hygiene kit. As before, a local licensed dentist talked about the ways teeth get cavities and what the students and parents can do to prevent them.

The dentist checked each students' mouths for oral problems and recorded any issues for the parents. Unfortunately, she found advanced dental problems for every student.

She also talked about new inexpensive treatments the parents could choose to care for and prevent cavities.

Afterwards, the dentist reported that most of the children would benefit from using electric toothbrushes because they lacked the dexterity to brush manually. We will be investigating sources for donations to buy electric toothbrushes or adaptive brushes in bulk.

We will be looking for a special donation for a 10-year old boy with Hashimoto's disease. This disease affects the thyroid gland and prevents him from absorbing vitamins into his body. As a result he has accelerated tooth decay and gum disease and so he will require regular treatment from the dentist.

We currently have enough dental hygiene kits for one more workshop and are hoping we receive the funding to pay for the programs starting in Q1 2023.

Links:

• SoulGives website

Two workshops were conducted on weekends in September.

The first workshop had 125 children and adults attend. Each child was given a packet that contained a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and fun game to play while waiting. A local licensed dentist instructed the children on where cavities originate and how to prevent them - nutritionally and with proper oral care.While the dentist inspected each child, volunteers checked with each child to ensure they understood how to properly brush and floss.

Each child's name and parent's phone and email were recoreded for followup. For chidren with significant issues (e.g. permanent teeth growing around the primary teeth, gum problems), a local dentist or hygienist will contact the parent to discuss the problem if they were not in attendance.

The second workshop had 77 children and adults attend. Similarly, instruction was given by a local dentist, each child received a professional oral evaluation, and each child received a packet.

We are looking forward to our October workshops!