An alternative assignment during a campus closure proved to exceed expectations for Dental Hygiene students raising awareness about oral health.
Instead of hosting an event at the Applied Health Institute for National Dental Hygienists Week (April 4-10) as planned, more than 40 students worked individually from their homes and used social media to generate their message. They posted photos and educational items, shared personal stories to spark online conversations and created vlogs. Their work discussed their motivations for entering the field, what they love about it, what they can’t wait to pass onto their clients when they graduate, and why they feel it is so important to celebrate NDHW.
The result: they were not only to expand their outreach, but they were able to tailor their message to be relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
School of Allied Health professor Alaina Gauthier noted she thought long and hard about assigning the project remotely. She was concerned that it could seem ‘tone-deaf’ amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In the end, she decided that the ‘show must go on.’
“NDHW is meant to spread positivity and joy to all and that is exactly what we needed in these days of COVID-19,” said Gauthier. “The students were actually awesome with this too and discussed in their posts that now, more than ever, oral hygiene is incredibly important.”
Cassondra Smith noted that while they conduct oral hygiene education with their clients at the NC Dental Clinic, the virtual assignment – through the power of social media – gave her and her classmates the opportunity to spread tips to hundreds of thousands of people with a click of a button.
“The virtual project really brought this community of hygienists together,” she said. “Even with the current pandemic we are facing, this did not stop these hygienists at all which, in my opinion, really shows the passion these individuals have for their jobs and the desire they have to teach others about oral health.”
The Welland resident posted photos and infographics ranging from promoting better oral care to educating individuals about the importance of seeing a dental hygienist on a regular basis and celebrating the 29,549 of registered DH professionals in Canada.
“It was very rewarding having the opportunity to see the passion within this community of health professionals and it really made you feel like you were about to be part of something so amazing,” said Smith.
Brittany Klassen of Niagara-on-the-Lake generated awareness through her LinkedIn and Instagram accounts and wanted to ensure her content was pertinent and interesting for her viewers.
“Having a social media presence allowed dental hygienists all over the country to promote this initiative to their own individual platforms, which allows for us to reach more people,” said Klassen. “This was a wonderful opportunity to use the knowledge we have obtained to pass onto others.”
Gauthier noted that she was proud of her students for making connections between oral health and overall health in a way that was relevant to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
“They discussed that isolating at home may negatively impact our oral homecare routines, and even discussed that it is important to keep our oral cavities clean since plaque and inflammation are closely connected to systemic problems and severity of these systemic problems,” she said. “I was really proud of them for making this connection.”
Students posted from their personal social media platforms and tagged #ndhw20 and #DHPurplePride. Each student also submitted a photo for a collage, which will be submitted to the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association.
Organized by the CDHA, National Dental Hygienists Week is celebrated annually during April – Oral Health Month. It focuses on the importance of maintaining good oral health practices, and helping Canadians understand the role and importance of the dental hygiene profession. This year’s theme was ‘Oral Health for Total Health.’ For info visit cdha.ca
