{"id":273,"date":"2013-10-27T23:40:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-27T15:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/2013\/10\/27\/weekend-wandering-dentist-for-a-day\/"},"modified":"2014-10-03T18:19:19","modified_gmt":"2014-10-03T10:19:19","slug":"weekend-wandering-dentist-for-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/2013\/10\/weekend-wandering-dentist-for-a-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Wandering: Dentist for a Day!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I stared into the blinding light, trying to make sense of my surrounding. My eyes quickly focused on a masked face which was approaching me, eagerly… but before I could react, I heard a muffled voice speak through the surgical mask, ” Hi Daddy…” her eyes squinted with a wide smile beneath the mask. I smiled in return and replied, ” Hi Dana!” but before I could continue, she commanded, ” Open your mouth…” I sheepishly obliged as she proceeded to examine my teeth with a mouth mirror before proceeding to spray some air into it to clean it…all under the watchful eye of a friendly Dentist, an arms length away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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My free check up by the aspiring Dentist!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Surreal yet immensely proud, there was I, seated (and elevated) on a dentist chair looking up to my own 5 year-old’s face as she attempted to ‘count and clean my teeth’ at the second station of the National Dental Center’s (NDC) ‘Dentist for a Day<\/a>‘ programme, commemorating the 1st year of the NDC’s launch of their Facebook page<\/a> to promote paediatric dentistry in Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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What a fabulous celebration  – inviting kids to be Dentists for a Day!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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One of the many fun stations in store for the kids…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The half-day programme held last Saturday morning brought young children (mainly 5 to 6 year old preschoolers) through a series of experiential stations to simulate ‘A Day in the Life of’ a Dentist. From disinfecting their hands, donning the scrub and gloves to giving dental examinations to their unsuspecting patients. The programme, which was over-subscribed, drew an enthusiastic group of eager kids and their parents.<\/p>\n

The team at NDC had devised an engaging and educational experience for the kids which touches on different aspects of dentistry and dental health. These include:<\/p>\n

1. Cleaning and Disinfecting<\/b>: How Dentists clean and disinfect themselves (and their tools) before any dental procedures or treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Dr. Dana’s in the house!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Scrutinizing their germy hands under UV rays…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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We’re ready for the practice!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

2. Dental Treatment<\/b>: Children had the opportunity to handle real dentists’ tools and instruments, maneuver the dentist chair and even conduct a thorough dental check on who else but their parents!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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When I signed her up to be ‘Dentist for a Day’…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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little did I know I had also signed myself up to be ‘Patient of the Day’!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Mastering the correct order of brushing our teeth…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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The young Apprentice and one of the friendly Dentists from NDC…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

3. Wire Art<\/b>: An experience in orthodontics where children learn to bend and twist colourful pipe-cleaners to form a ‘wand’ as part of their ‘training’ in moulding braces.  Interesting and creative!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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To do this, you need an agile and stable hand…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Working with pipe-cleaners to form braces…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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It takes lots of patience and a keen eye too….<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Finally, her completed wand…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

4. Fixing a Cavity<\/b>: Children were each given clay tooth with black fillings (representing tooth decay).  They had to remove these bad germs,  fill the cavity with medicine before closing it nicely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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A badly decayed tooth? No worries – Dr. Dana to the rescue!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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First we empty the cavity of the decay…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Make sure none of the bad germs are left on the tooth…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Earned an extra ‘star’ for doing such an excellent job at fixing the tooth!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

5.  The Right Diet and Oral Health<\/b>: Children were tasked to shop for healthy ‘teeth’ food at the virtual supermarket. Here, I was pleased to hear that ‘moderation is the key’ and children are taught the recommended quota for teeth cleaning daily (min 3 times a day, preferably brush your teeth after each meal).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Giving kids a chance to demonstrate their understanding of how diet affects their dental health…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Never seen kids so happy to go shopping….<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Dana picked milk, bread, yoghurt, cheese, carrot, broccoli and cucumber…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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A basket-full of goodness!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Role-play opportunities are getting increasingly popular with kids (with the presence of KidZania<\/a> and BabyBoss<\/a>) but what makes this ‘Dentist for a Day’ activity stand out was that it was facilitated by real-life Dentists and dental nurses. Though some of them were initially apprehensive in relating to a bunch of inquisitive and energetic preschoolers, I felt they did a great job overall in executing the programme and sharing the importance of oral health to the children.<\/p>\n

Kudos to the team at National Dental Centre<\/a> for such a well-organised event which was thoroughly engaging and educational. It certainly helped to dispel some myths and fears kids (and adults) have about visiting the Dentists and created a memorable learning experience for all involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Thank you NDC for a most enjoyable experience!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Just hangin’ out at the end of their ‘shifts’!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I stared into the blinding light, trying to make sense of my surrounding. My eyes quickly focused on a masked face which was approaching me, eagerly… but before I could react, I heard a muffled voice speak through the surgical mask, ” Hi Daddy…” her eyes squinted with a wide smile beneath the mask. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,71,13,14,70],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59hHF-4p","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}