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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Two days at the Escuela de Primaria...

Monday means doing the 'flag ceremony" before classes begin.

Here we are, watching the procession.

Another point of view.

This year, we set up our screening area in the open dining area  rather than moving from classroom to classroom. This approach worked much better with our lower numbers.

 Learning with the Grade 2's.

Shannonita, trying to figure out how not to break the aseptic chain while recording. Difficult.

This little boy knew all the answers to our Oral Health review. We decided to use a different approach with our presentations this year. We asked questions right from the start. All the questions pertained to the content of the binder that we have used for the last 4 years. We were pleasantly surprised to see that they remembered all of the functions of teeth, the caries process, and the methods of prevention. 

Sam's little boy did not have any caries!

Sam showing a group of Grade 3's how to brush.

See the little girl in a fleece jacket? It's 28 degrees!

This Grade 4 girl shared her sticker with Sam.

No front teeth and no caries. Yay!

Grade 3.  Only 5 in this class had decay. A vast improvement from previous years.

The children were very attentive. This is Indira, our presenter and interpreter.


 Recess.  By 930am, the heat starts to be quite palpable. 

Back to more screenings.

Purple Power!

How can you not love that face?

This is Tania. She really took to Rie, a 2007 field school alumni when she was in Kindergarten. Rie: you'll be happy to know that she is doing much better with her oral health.

What are you finding, Shannon?

Okay, how about this face? Look at that smile!

Duraflor varnish on makeshift pads.

Grade 5 students making their way to the presentation.

The students race to occupy the front row.

Es muy importante cepillarse los dientes tres veses por dia.


Such eager learners!

We moved to a classroom at the end of our session there, as they were using the 'dining area' to practice a dance for Mother's Day next week.
Setting up for screening 18 children in this classroom. By the second day, we were in the groove.

Last child to screen this day and no decay! Shannon is a happy camper!

I will post our 3rd day at the Escuela de Primaria next time.

3 comments:

  1. I love the procession and how eager these children are to learn. Also very pleased that they are remembering the information that our previous classes had presented. This is very positive.

    I have a question in regards to the lower caries rate. Did these children have restorative completed since the last visits from our school? Or was there just exfoliation of the primary teeth that were decayed from the last visit?

    Keep up the wonderful work ladies.

    Jacquie

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  2. Hi Jacquie,
    Thanks for the comments. There are various reasons for the lowered decay rate. We like to think that the education and health promotion from the last 4 years have been making a difference. We see increased number of restorations even on primary teeth which means that they are taking the initiative to access the dentist. We see the same grade levels year after year so there is always mixed dentition to screen and we've seen decay in both primary and permanent teeth. This year, there appeared to be less. 38% of the kids in the primary school had decay (1 or more site). I'll check our records from previous years and see what the actual data indicate.

    Have a good start of the Spring break tomorrow.
    Ada

    ReplyDelete
  3. This sounds so positive. If I remember correctly the locals were not accessing care from the dentist. So ti sounds like the continued education you and the students are providing is paying off. Way to go.
    Jacquie

    ReplyDelete