GREAT DAY!!  TODAY WAS ALL ABOUT PREVENTIVE DENTISTRY!  We were asked by the schools to come up with a program to teach the kids.  SO, we implemented what we do in Twin Falls, but we customized it to fit the age group that we were talking to (age 11 and 12 year olds).  Once the principle of this school saw our program, she wants us to come back for the whole school.  We were excited!  We dressed the kids up as teeth, used our beach towels as the gums, made a "redneck" toothbrush with a small broom and stick, and used some rope for floss.  We did a 40 minute presentation and Dr. Johns and his wife did a power point presentation that was fantastic.  Below are some more pictures of what we did.  We did programs for two schools today.  Since we got here, we are now going to implement preventive care programs to schools every Thursday.  This is what Tonga needs.  They need EDUCATION about oral hygiene and diet.  I can't help but feel this is a large part of why we are here.  To help implement this program to these kids.  I feel we are helping stop this multigenerational cycle of dental decay that is happening here in Tonga.  If we can help even a few kids understand and make changes, I feel we've done our part.  Hopefully, it's a lot more than that.  We are trying to "make a difference for the one."  

This group of kids were so great!  We had a TON of fun with them.  They don't have access to really any Dental Care on the island other than our clinic or the hospital (which only does emergency care). They don't understand oral hygiene and the diet component of overall health.  After today, our hope is that they realize what they have to do to maintain their beautiful smile and overall health.  They may have thought that we were crazy Americans, but we had a good time educating and spending time with them.

Have a good time with the kids!  

These are kids at a different Middle School that were ready to come into the clinic for Dental Screenings.  We did a similar program, but had them come into the clinic and showed each one of them how to brush & floss, educated them on oral hygiene and diet, and did Dental Screenings.  We saw quite a few kids and the Dental work that needs to be done will keep us busy for a long time.  

Fun kids!  It's not very often that they see white people.  They think we're a little strange.  Probably right.  :)  These guys were a very polite and kind group of kids.  The type of patients that you love.

These were our Dental Hygiene specialty team that helped educate the students on their oral hygiene. They did a fantastic job!  They used the EDGE model with the hygiene instruction.  Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, and Enable (Principle from the Boy Scout Program - it does come in handy in life :)).  It was very effective and the kids also did "Tell, Show, Do" with all of them.  How to brush, how to floss, how long, how often, what diet they should be having (good foods, bad foods, etc.), and had the kids tell and show us what they learned.   Good life lessons for our kids to learn as well.  Maddison said it was a little strange teaching kids that were older than her, but I think it's great that she has the learning opportunity to teach others.  The other kids were helping on the clinical side doing the screenings.  They did great and helped a ton with Dr. Johns and myself.

We see a lot of these situations.  The tooth on the upper left corner (where you see the whole tooth).  If you look at the center of the tooth, you will see a black shadow coming from the top of the crown of the tooth.  What's happening is clinically, the enamel looks completely healthy.  We don't see decay anywhere, but you take an x-ray like this and it shows there is decay (cavity) going into the nerve of the tooth.  This is why we have to screen these kids.  We want to try to catch things before they turn into larger problems.  We don't see this condition in the United States.  We're trying to figure out why this is.  They have a lot of mineral in their water here, and that might be a part of it, but it's a little strange.  The decay penetrates microscopically into the grooves and pits and causes large lesions.  Very interesting!  After the screenings today, we have our work cut out for us.

This is a 12 year old young man that doesn't know what happened with this tooth, but will have to have it extracted.  We have to figure out what to do long term.  I'm learning to make "makeshift" partial dentures to take the place of missing teeth.  I haven't done anything like that since Dental school.  Usually, I send off an impression to the lab and they make it for me.  HERE, we are the LAB.  We don't have any other option.  We are so spoiled in America.  Holy Cow!

Some fun right before dinner.  We went out and played some football, climbed on the basketball hoop, and played "500" with a group of Tongan young men that really wanted to play some football with us.  As we were passing the ball around, a group of young men gathered close to us and were watching us.  I asked if they wanted to play and they jumped at the chance.  It turned into a game of "500" (a fun game throwing the football).  We had a blast with them.  We had dinner with the kids, played some games, and then I went to the temple and did a session.    It was a great night.

Playing a game of "500".  The young men were really getting into it.  You have to watch out for them, they're really strong.  AND, they play barefoot.  A lot of the Tongan kids just run around barefoot wherever they go.  Tough people!