On July 16, 2019 Tufts AO hosted their Annual Tooth Day at Fenway Park. This year TUSDM partnered with UNE dental students to provide baseball fans with oral hygiene instructions and handed out toothbrushes, toothpaste, xylitol gum, and xylitol lollipops to fans entering the stadium. With the help from local Boston dentist and AO alumna Dr. Heidi Aaronson, we screened fans for oral cancer using a Velscope, a handheld scope that uses natural tissue fluorescence to detect abnormalities that may not be apparent to the naked eye. Special thank you to the TUSDM faculty Dr. Trombly, Dr. Harold, and Dr. Lerman who came out and supported this awesome event! We look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s Tooth Day.
Adit Gadh (D’21) reflects: “We had over 30 people attend the game together from the Tufts community and everyone had a great time. Tooth day has continuously been one of our most successful events. It serves as a great opportunity to reach out to our local community and raise oral health awareness alongside promoting TUSDM. In addition to interacting with baseball fans, many of the vendors working at the game not only anticipate the event each year, but are very grateful for the screenings and toothbrushes/pastes. Check out some of the photos and don’t forget to sign up next year!”
Sophia Heitmiller (D’21) reflects: “Tooth Day was a home run! It was great collaborating with UNE dental students, TUSDM faculty, and local dentists from Boston’s Children Hospital to spread oral health awareness and provide cancer screenings to our local community. This year FIGS scrubs sponsored Tooth Day by providing AO members with embroidered scrubs. They were very excited to contribute to this event and share our pictures because FIGS has two Tufts alumni including the co-CEO! We received many thanks from fans and staff during the game from those who recognized our scrubs. I’m grateful to be apart of this team and encourage everyone to participate in this awesome event next year!”
Thank you to all the AO members who helped make this event possible:
Co-Presidents: Adit Gadh (D’21) & Harjaap Singh (D’21)
Vice President: Russ Smith (D’22)
Secretary: Sophia Heitmiller (D’21)
Treasurer: Mitra Marvasti-Sitterly (D’22)
Community Service: Eva Sidhu (D’21) & Natalie Djansezian (D’21)
Social & Outreach: Bhavya Paranthaman (D’22)
