AAWD Hosts Interactive Health Fair at Rosie’s Place

The Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine (BUGSDM) chapter of American Association of Women Dentists (AAWD) held a fun and interactive dental health fair for children at Rosie’s Place, a shelter for homeless, displaced, and battered women. BUGSDM has worked with Rosie’s Place on many prior occasions, but this event featured one of the largest groups of Rosie’s Place participants that the BUGSDM volunteers have encountered, demonstrating the need for programs of this nature in the community and also the good reputation BUGSDM has built at Rosie’s Place through past successful programs.

The event included six stations for children to visit with their dental "passports". Each station focused on a different aspect of dental health including: brushing and flossing, the negative effects of tobacco on oral health, tooth protectors, the importance of regular dental visits, what teeth are used for, and the importance of eating healthy for good oral health.  After visiting a station, children would receive a sticker on their passport and once they had collected all six stickers, they were given a goodie bag featuring a toothbrush, toothpaste, games, and puzzles.

"This was another wonderful experience for the BUGSDM volunteers and Rosie’s Place participants,” said organizer and Oral Health Promotion Coordinator Kathy Lituri. “Based on our success with this program the BUGSDM chapter of the AAWD will double their efforts to include four health fairs per year at Rosie’s Place, one per season.”