Summarization of event This year has been amazing. I almost finished with my third term of dental hygiene school. School keeps me busy, however, I was able to find some time to volunteer for the Smiles for Kids 2013 event at Carrington College. According to the SDDS website, Smiles for Kids is the largest and most far-reaching project and started in 2003 (sdds.org, 2013). The program partners with volunteers from the dental field including, but not limited to; doctors, hygienist, assistants and teachers. The Smiles for Kids screening process sees nearly 1000 underserved children (sdds.org, 2013). When I found our class was going to be able to volunteer our services as dental hygiene students, I was thrilled! The event started early Saturday morning. Sometimes events like these can seem chaotic, however, all things started and ran smoothly. Each student has assigned duties and clinic rooms. Three students were in the lab doing oral hygiene instructions, 5-6 students were in radiology, and the remaining students were in clinic. Ms. Mozell was hustling around in the sterilization area to make sure we all had trays ready for each patient. After grabbing my tray and setting up my room, I eagerly waited. The anticipation was killing me to see my first child. After a few minutes of taking pictures with the other students, my first patient was ready. She was a young, shy little girl. I did a quick medical history review with the parents and jumped right into my EO/IO exam. Soon after, I was able to do some light scaling on her anteriors. After my pod instructor checked my scaling work, I was able to polish and send her on her way. She was an angel. My second child was a bit more difficult. She was 4 years old and very upset. She made her way from radiology with her parents. The language barrier was tough to work around. I was able to talk her into letting me look around her mouth with my mirror. She let me show her the polisher, but did not want it in her mouth. My last child I worked on for the day was actually Kacie’s patient. I was able to do five sealants on her. She tolerated the procedure very well. After all the children were gone, we jumped into action getting the rooms ready for the next clinic day. All the students ran around taking more pictures and telling stories about their patients.
Reflection Volunteering is all about time. We all feel like we have a million things going on and don’t have anytime to donate. This event reminded me that it only takes a little bit of effort on our part to help others that need it the most, children. I know that working in a fast paced environment will benefit my professional dental hygiene skills, but I felt like I took more than just that away from that day. The overall message I got from this years Smiles for Kids was, being unselfish with our time and professional skills is so much more valuable than we will ever know. Each family was there because they needed dental care for their child or children, and could not afford to seek professional care. It was not our job to judge them, just to treat them. We are blessed to be able to bring that positive message with us to the next chapter in our lives. I will carry that message for the rest of my dental hygiene profession and the rest of my life.
References SDDS. (March 30, 2013) Smiles for Kids. Retrieved on March 30, 2013 from http://www.sdds.org/SmilesforKids.htm