College students make Shiny Smiles
A group of Welland elementary school children are smiling brightly thanks to Niagara College dental students.
Last Friday, 27 students from Plymouth, Princess Elizabeth, St. Mary’s and Diamond Trail elementary schools visited the college’s dental clinic as a part of the Shiny Smiles program.
“The innovative Shiny Smiles program demonstrates the collective impact of community partnerships on health equity by improving the oral health of children who need it most,” said Gloria Morris, dental program manager for Niagara Region public health. “Niagara College is committed to giving back to the community by running the Shiny Smiles clinics and supporting the work of all the stakeholders.”
Shiny Smiles, in collaboration with the college, public health, community dentists, local school boards and the Welland Neighbourhood Project, provides free
treatment to children in need.
Public health dental hygienist Christina Yochim did screening at schools to have “a visual assessment just with a mirror and a flash light” to determine “if there are any open areas of concerns.”
“If I look in and see there is some infection going on, we’ll send a letter home with the parent to let them know they need to go to the dentist immediately,” said Yochim.
Public health sent 54 letters offering the services for the Shiny Smiles program and received 27 replies.
After a screening, college students from dental hygiene, dental assisting and dental office administration worked together with hygienists from public health to provide services including X-rays, scaling, polish, fluoride, sealants, fillings and extractions.
College dental program manager Leeza Kristalyn highlighted the benefits of Shiny Smiles program: “Coming from the school side, thinking about our students, it’s great for them to see children and be able to work with that type of population and we are making a difference in the community as well.”
She said some of the dental assistants were working with children for the first time.
“Without this program, a lot of these kids probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to get the dental work done and then for the kids obviously, it’s a good experience,” said Kristalyn.
The Shiny Smiles program was launched in 2007 to help lowincome families, offering access to needed dental care for elementary school students.
“Between us (public health), the Welland Neighbourhood Project and the college, we kind of pitched in as well as schools. They’ve (schools) have done a ton of work to help make this success,” said Yochim.