Smile Squad members attended the Healthy Kids Festival Saturday March 24th. This event is held every year at the Boston Children’s Museum. Check out some of their reflections below!
Thais Antunes (D20) reflects: “Our new D21 members were eager to interact with the children even though it was during finals week. It was a huge success and the children once again were excited to see what our table had to offer. All members gave oral hygiene instructions to the children and families using the puppets, toothbrushes, and instructional activities. All the children received a fun Smile Squad goody bag with oral hygiene supplies that will motivate them to keep brushing and flossing at home. Smile Squad members were impressed at how each child approached our table differently yet after some time most were happy to show us their brushing technique. This is a great way to lead off our “tell, show, do” approach. Once a child shows us how they brush, we tell them how well they are doing and how they can improve and then we assist them in practicing the correct technique.
Lauren Lubowitz (D21) reflects on her experience, “Volunteering at the children’s museum with Smile Squad was an awesome experience. We were able to teach children as young as a few months old to brush their teeth and take care of their mouths. One of my favorite parts was seeing a young girl who was too nervous to come up to us, changing her mind and have a really good time brushing the puppet’s mouth with our jumbo toothbrushes. I was swamped with exams and being able to interact with the children and their parents was an important reminder of why I wanted to be in dental school in the first place. Smile squad events allow me to interact with not only the children of the Chinatown community but also the greater Boston area”.
Volunteers:
D20’s: Thais Antunes, Simran Kaur
D21’s: Yara Abdelnabi, Sumra Akhlaq, Chanice Thomas, Jason Saraf, Rachel Young, Paula zaman, Christopher Yu, Lauren Lubowitz, Chung Park, Lema Salem
