This month is Dental Health Month. My oldest will be 18 tomorrow and just recently went to the dentist for her 6 month cleaning. She was telling me today before school that she still has 2 baby teeth and our dentist wants to pull them after graduation so that her adult teeth can come in. It is so important to take care of your teeth. Brushing and flossing at least twice a day, as well as, getting a check-up and cleaning every 6 months is so important. I offer two dental clinics in the school each year. One of them is Douglas County Health Department and the other is Dental Safari. We are blessed to have both. The health department follows up after they clean the teeth in the schools. They schedule people who need restorative care like fillings to come to their facility for follow up. Dental Safari is the second company I work with to come to the schools. This year was our first year trying them. They were great to work with. They brought back a mobile clinic on a bus to to do restorative care. Offering these services in the schools helps cut down on time that the student is out of class. They have been wonderful to work with. We are blessed to be able to offer these services.
The dental clinic was a success. They saw 67 students throughout the district. I will share some interesting facts that I learned when they came this time. For every child seen in the dental clinic, 12.6 hours of classroom time is saved. This equates to 844 hours of classroom learning time saved for our students in this district. For every 10 Medicaid-elilgible school-aged children (5-17 years)...
-60% have at least one cavity. -56% did NOT see a dentist last year. One in seven students (age 6-12) suffer from a toothache right now. On average, elementary students without dental care missed 2.1 days of school due to oral health problems. Thank you for your support of this clinic. The end of the year is approaching fast. If your child is going into Kindergarten, 6th or 9th grade for the 2014-15 School Year, they will be required to have a physical and possibly immunizations. If your child is going into Kindergarten, 2nd, or 6th, they are required to turn in a dental exam. If your child participated in the dental clinic, this will count for next year's requirement. If your child is entering Kindergarten for the first time, an eye exam by an optometrist or ophthalmologist is required. If you have already had these exams done, you can turn them in now. I am blessed to be working with your children. We have really great kids here. Thank you. Registration went well. It sounds like people were really pleased with online registration. Shannon Smith did a great job with that. If you did not come to registration at North Ward, I may have some papers for you to fill out. I will be sending them home with your child. Shortly after school starts, Douglas County Health Department will be coming to perform dental exams and cleanings. This will fulfill the state requirement for the Kindergarten, 2nd grade and 6th grade dental exams.
This summer has gone so fast. It was like a whirlwind and is hard to believe that school registration is in less than a week. I am ready to get back into a routine and see the students. I hope that you have had a great summer. The weather has been beautiful.
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AuthorI love being the school nurse. I have worked with kids of all ages for over 25 years. Archives
April 2014
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