The Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine, Section of Community and Preventive Dentistry is engaged in educating our students in prevention and oral health promotion, special needs patient care and geriatric dentistry.
The following represents a few of the highlights from the annual Community and Preventive Dentistry calendar:
Madison County Oral Health Education Program
Our students are actively engaged in outreach activities including providing oral health promotion at elementary, middle and high schools in Madison County. As part of the Clinical Community Dentistry course, Year III and IV students work in teams, which generally consist of 2 students. Each team is assigned to classes at a Madison County elementary school, middle school and high school. Student teams conduct a needs assessment at each school, after meeting with school administrators and the school nurse. They then make age-appropriate oral health presentations to each class in elementary and middle schools twice per semester and to high school classes once per semester.
As the dental students graduate from year III to year IV, they move with the public school students; i.e., if they were assigned to grade 3 in their Year III, they move to grade 4 in their year IV. At the end of year IV, students write a service-learning paper describing their experiences at public schools and the impact they have made on the students.
This program is currently in its 3rd year. Last year, the program was supported by a grant from the Daughters of Charity Foundation.
Oral screenings and oral health education in the community
Another component of the Clinical Community Dentistry program involves student participation in oral screenings and oral health education in our community. Year III and Year IV students actively participate in local health fairs and provide oral cancer screenings at various venues, including sites in East St. Louis and Senior Services Plus locations. Students make oral health presentations to mothers in a local Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program, parents of kids in the Riverbend Head Start Program, and provide screenings and education to the children at the Madison County Youth Detention Home.
Year III students get didactic instruction and clinical experience in special needs patient management and/or care. Each student’s clinical experience consists of rotations through our Special needs Clinic and another off-site experience. We provide screenings at the William Bedell Centers for children and adults every year. We also provide screenings for the athletes at the Area 12 Special Olympics games in Edwardsville every year. In addition, our students work at a residential facility for people with developmental disabilities- Beverly Farms, under Dr. Scott Wolter’s supervision.
Year IV students receive didactic instruction and clinical experience in managing elderly patients living independently in the community as well as those in assisted living institutions or nursing homes. Our students provide annual screenings for the residents of our local nursing home- Eunice Smith. Each student also provides in-service training to our local nursing home staff and a presentation on a relevant topic to elderly people in our community.
National Children’s Dental Health Month-2011
February—National Children’s Dental Health Month (NCDHM)—was once again recognized at the SIU dental school by visits from over 400 children. Elementary school children from Lovejoy Elementary in Alton, Central Elementary in Roxana, Eastwood Elementary in East Alton and South Roxana Elementary participated in our NCDHM program.
Each year, Dr. Poonam Jain, Director of Community and Preventive Dentistry at the SIU School of Dental Medicine, invites local schools to send elementary school children—from Kindergarten thru Second Grade—to our Main Clinic in Alton to participate in our NCDHM Program. The NCDHM Program at SIU was again highlighted by interactive learning centers that provide the children who participate with much more than a bright, clean smile.
During the course of the month, our NCDHM Program hosted nine comprehensive sessions—each including oral health screenings and the interactive learning centers. Dental students are ultimately charged with managing the sessions. By the end of the month, 96 of our dental students helped to make the NCDHM Program at SIU SDM successful.
During each session, each elementary school child participated in three interactive learning centers. The learning centers focused on oral-systemic connections, appropriate dietary and beverage choices and oral hygiene. From each learning center, each child received a “take-home” message.
In addition, all of the children that brought signed parental consent forms received a free oral health screening, conducted by our students under faculty supervision. A total of 273 children received the screenings this year.
At the end of each session, each participating child received an oral health kit. Also, each participating teacher received a set of educational resources that will allow for follow up oral health instruction back in the classroom.
Warm Hearts Prevail Over Cold Weather at Give Kids A Smile Day!
The Alton campus remained covered in the snow and ice that closed the dental school for two days earlier in the week. However, the warm hearts of SIU SDM faculty, staff, students and volunteers prevailed over the persistent cold weather and gave over 100 kids a reason to smile during Give Kids A Smile Day on February 4, 2011.
“The number of kids was greater than we expected, given the winter storm and school closings during the week,” said Dr. Poonam Jain, Director of Community and Preventive Dentistry and the Chair of the Give Kids A Smile Day event at the SIU dental school. “We provided a lot of much needed treatment to the 105 kids we saw.”
Most local school districts closed during the week and a few remained closed on the day of the event due to icy conditions that made roadways and sidewalks difficult to clear and, in some cases, unsafe. The Facilities Management team at SIU SDM worked tirelessly to make the primary routes on the Alton campus safe for all the participants of the 2011 Give Kids A Smile Day.
During the one-day event, SIU dental school faculty, students, staff, and alumni, as well as other volunteer dental professionals from the Madison District Dental Society and the St. Clair District Dental Society, provided free dental care for 105 children. The range of preventive, restorative and surgical care provided for the children during the SIU SDM Give Kids A Smile Day included examinations, X-rays, cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, fillings and extractions.
Dr. Jain noted that the children served during the 2011 Give Kids A Smile Day received comprehensive dental care, valued at more than $45,000, at no charge. She added that the volunteer dental professionals were critical to the success of the event.
“I am extremely grateful to the private practitioners from Madison and St. Clair District Dental Societies who gave up their Friday and volunteered to provide treatment for local kids who needed dental attention,” said Dr. Jain.
Dr. Jain also gave considerable credit to the students, faculty and staff at the SIU dental school. “This event would not be possible without the students, faculty and staff who played countless roles to facilitate all of the services provided during the day.”
Also participating were over 100 volunteers from the Lewis and Clark Community College, Missouri College, the Zonta Club of Alton-Wood River and the SIUE Kimmel Leadership Center. The students of the Missouri College Dental Assisting program, the women of the Zonta Club and the students of the Kimmel Leadership Center joined SIU SDM Year II students to escort the children from registration through the dental clinic.
The Lewis and Clark Community College Dental Hygiene and Assisting programs hosted a “Smile Station” in the gym, which featured games to help children learn the importance of keeping their teeth clean. Ms. Cathy Anderson, a faculty member at the Lewis and Clark Community College, coordinated the “Smile Station” program.
Two local lawmakers—Illinois State Representative Dan Beiser (D-East Alton) and Illinois State Senator Bill Haine (D-Alton)—were in attendance at the event again this year. Rep. Beiser and and Sen. Haine are both strong advocates of the SIU dental school and of Give Kids A Smile Day. They greeted the families and children who participated in the event and observed the SIU dental school students, faculty, staff, alumni and community volunteers in action.
Note: Due to issues in recent years with severe weather and school closings, we have decided to move the SIU SDM Give Kids A Smile Day to the Fall. This year, we will hold the event on Columbus Day- October 8th, 2012.
SIUCARES Program
(Sponsored by the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation)
The goal of the SIUCARES program is to prepare dentists to provide care for children in the underserved areas of southern Illinois through two parallel initiatives. First, by modifying our admissions process and our dental education curriculum, we have created the SIUCARES “Rural Scholars Program,” which identifies, recruits and trains a specific subset of our dental students with a goal of developing dental professionals interested in caring for underserved children. Second, with significant revisions to our dental education curriculum, we have created the SIUCARES “Core Program,” which has significantly expanded and enriched our current dental education program through an increase in community and pediatric dentistry course hours and community clinic rotations for all dental students. Both SIUCARES programs are facilitated through partnerships with community-based dental clinics that provide oral health care to underserved Illinois children. In sum, SIUCARES aims to increase in number and diversity the pool of dental graduates who are prepared and empowered to practice in rural settings and provide care to underserved children.
