TY students in St. Aidan’s participate in “Tooth Led Teens” programme
with Mairin McInerney (HSE)
On Wednesday 29.01.2020 a group of TY students were visited by Ms. Mairin McInerney from the HSE Cavan/Monaghan dental unit who trained us in teaching dental care to our first years.
She began our first lesson by asking us what plaque is. She then continued to show us what can happen when we don’t brush the plaque off our teeth twice daily. She showed us various models of teeth showing the different stages of gum disease. She told us that they do not recommend using a hard toothbrush but a soft bristled one. This can help prevent the movement and tugging of gums in the future. She then taught us how to brush our teeth properly and had us all do a demonstration on the models. She showed us how thorough you had to be to get all the plaque off so that it doesn’t grow into tartar which has to be professionally removed.
In her second lesson she taught us about how certain foods, like sugary foods and drinks, can cause tooth decay. She showed us models on the transition from the first signs of decay to the worst signs. This was very interesting as she showed us how much sugar was in foods we thought were ‘healthy’. We also learned just how much calcium teenagers need in their diet (5 portions). She taught us how to see how much sugar was in food from the label on the outside of the packet, with what she called the traffic light system. She gave us different games we could do with the first-year classes when giving our lessons. She showed us what she calls the ‘sugar clock’ which shows us when its best to eat our sugary foods, which she said was during meal. She said that the best things to eat as snacks were things that do not affect the teeth, like water, milk, fruit and vegetables etc.
Then she gave us our lesson plans and showed us how to use the models.
It was a most enjoyable learning experience and we are really looking forward to passing our knowledge to the first year classes in the very near future!
by Katie Foster
She began our first lesson by asking us what plaque is. She then continued to show us what can happen when we don’t brush the plaque off our teeth twice daily. She showed us various models of teeth showing the different stages of gum disease. She told us that they do not recommend using a hard toothbrush but a soft bristled one. This can help prevent the movement and tugging of gums in the future. She then taught us how to brush our teeth properly and had us all do a demonstration on the models. She showed us how thorough you had to be to get all the plaque off so that it doesn’t grow into tartar which has to be professionally removed.
In her second lesson she taught us about how certain foods, like sugary foods and drinks, can cause tooth decay. She showed us models on the transition from the first signs of decay to the worst signs. This was very interesting as she showed us how much sugar was in foods we thought were ‘healthy’. We also learned just how much calcium teenagers need in their diet (5 portions). She taught us how to see how much sugar was in food from the label on the outside of the packet, with what she called the traffic light system. She gave us different games we could do with the first-year classes when giving our lessons. She showed us what she calls the ‘sugar clock’ which shows us when its best to eat our sugary foods, which she said was during meal. She said that the best things to eat as snacks were things that do not affect the teeth, like water, milk, fruit and vegetables etc.
Then she gave us our lesson plans and showed us how to use the models.
It was a most enjoyable learning experience and we are really looking forward to passing our knowledge to the first year classes in the very near future!
by Katie Foster
