How are your pearly whites?
Well, youngsters all over Clarkston are learning how to treat their teeth right, in light of Dental Health Month this February.
Thanks to Dr. Robert Bice, DDS, of Clarkston Village Dental, kids are getting the ins and outs of dental care.
Bice as well as dental hygienist Amy Kociszewski Wilson and dental assistant Katie McIrath, have been busy visiting several area preschools and local elementary schools including third graders at Clarkston Elementary, first graders at Andersonville Elementary, three-year-olds at Clarkston United Methodist Church and preschoolers at St. Trinity Lutheran Church.
“We stress the three things kids can do for healthy teeth: brush and floss, eat healthy and see a dentist two times a year,” Bice said. “We’re providing them with positive habits that they can use all their life.”
The children get to experience several hands-on activities to help them better understand their teeth and problems that can arise.
Kids are asked to fill grocery bags of healthy food versus grocery bags of unhealthy food; yogurt is used to represent plaque and demonstrate how easy it is to remove from teeth; and the kids also get to do fun stuff like try on a dentist’s mask and gloves, among other activities.
“They ask a lot of questions. They’re real enthusiastic. You can’t underestimate just how much these kids absorb,” Bice said. “They take everything in.”
Bice also donated approximately 300 bags of goodies filled with toothbrushes, floss, educational information, and more.
Kociszewski Wilson said Bice was approached by a couple local teachers who had students in their classes who had never been to a dentist before. So the team at Clarkston Village Dental sprung into action visiting schools for Dental Health Month. Bice also offered the children who had never received dental attention before, a cleaning free of charge.
A Clarkston resident who has had a dental practice here since 1998, Bice feels community is very important. He is active in several area functions such as sponsoring the Independence Township Parks and Recreation Play-it-Safe Camp this summer, a week-long day camp for youngsters featuring a presentation by a different “safety member” of the community each day. He is also involved with SCAMP, the Fun Daze run, the River DAWGS travel baseball team, the 5k Catallo Run, and will be a featured “celebrity” reader at Clarkston Elementary in March for Reading Month.
Everyone at Clarkston Village Dental is already planning for next February’s Dental Health Month, having been asked to return by the local schools.