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National Children’s Dental Health Week 1964
National Children's Dental Health Week 1964
B U R E A U O F D E N T A L H E A L T H E D U C A T IO N
Perhaps it is too early to call it a trend, but each year a few more of the reports on dental health week programs point out that either there is a year-round den tal health program in the community or so much enthusiasm has been aroused by the dental health week program that plans are being m ade for a year-round program. This is the goal stressed in the Bureau of Dental Health Education’s materials, dental health education for 52 weeks, not merely one week, each year. However, a
concentrated one-week program serves to give emphasis. M any dentists and others devoted a great deal of time and effort to make the 1964 dental health week a success in their communities. For the 1964 dental health week the Bureau of Dental Health Education dis tributed approximately 5,550 program planning packets and 445,000 posters without charge. In addition, some 1,250,000 miniature posters, 20,530 car cards and 1,125 outdoor advertising posters were used in the various programs.
C o n te st winners display th eir d ental health posters a t the Dental Fair fo r D ental C a re sponsored by the N e w O rleans Dental Association. Som e 7,000 persons attend ed the fair, which com bined e ntertain m ent with some lessons in d ental health. O n e lesson: only noncariogenic food was a va ilab le a t the fair.
os t o n s w e s
REPORTS OF C O U N C ILS AND BUREAUS
•VO LUM E 68, JU N E 1964 • 123/891
"D r. Z o o m ," a Vancouver, W ash ., television station entertainer, was featu red week p ub licity of the C lark C o u n ty Dental S o cie ty.
Procter and Gamble gave the commer cial time on the nationwide Dick V an Dyke show February 5 to the American Dental Association. In some 100 com munities representatives of the local den tal societies gave the concluding an nouncement on the show; on other stations Mr. Van Dyke gave this an nouncement. For the sixth year the Rom per Room television show featured dental health during the first week in February. T he National Dairy Council and the Interna tional Apple Association, Inc., again made materials available to dental socie ties throughout the country. Reports of many excellent programs were sent to the Bureau of Dental Health Education. It is impossible to describe more than a small number of the pro grams in this report. Therefore, an at tempt has been made to choose aspects of various programs that other dental so
in the dental
health
cieties may wish to adapt to their own use next year. T E L E V IS IO N A N D RADIO
In San Antonio, Texas, dentists observed the 16th National Children’s Dental Health Week by premiering a new dental health education film, “ The Hidden Ene my.” The film was produced by the San Antonio District Dental Society and K L R N -T V , an educational television sta tion. The film has two purposes: (1) to try to reach high school and junior high school students with a factual, graphic story of the scientific reasons for the decay of teeth and associated dental health problems; (2) to reach elementary school teachers with the same information, so that they can take the facts to their stu dents. The society hopes eventually to pro
124/892 • THE JO U R N A L OF THE A M ER IC A N DENTAL A SSO CIA TIO N
duce a series of films on dental health which can be shown periodically through out the year. In Bowling Green, K y., two dentists appeared on Station W L T V ’s program “ 13 Tid-Bits.” A large rural audience watches the program, which serves as a community bulletin board. During the 30 minute interview the two doctors an swered such questions as: What is Chil dren’s Dental Health Week? How is it being observed locally? Why is a healthy mouth important? What are some of the m ajor dental problems people have? What can be done to prevent them? In Chattanooga, Tenn., on the “ Fit for Living” television program presented by the board of education, nine dental pro grams were presented in January and three during the dental health week. The following week winners of the poster con test were guests. T he programs consisted of short talks, films, demonstrations and charts for dental health instruction to ele mentary schools in the area. Dental hygienists and assistants helped the regular staff prepare some of the programs. In addition, each day of the dental health
Sixth graders in Jackson, Miss., presented monthly program on Statio n W L B T . The classroom. W in d in g up the telecast, A a ro n program "a p rod uct of health educatio n in
week one or two interviews, panel discus sions or programs with dentists, auxiliary members, hygienists or dental assistants as guests were presented on each of the television stations in Chattanooga. In Des Moines, Iow a, the dental society prepared a one-minute spot announce ment for use on Stations W H O -T V and K R N T -T V . A child was shown “ swishing and swallowing” ; then an announcer read a short script stressing the importance of regular dental appointments, restriction of sweets and brushing immediately after eating or “ if that’s impossible, be sure to do as our smiling young lady suggests: If you can’t brush after eating, swish and swallow.” T he announcements were used during prime viewing time as well as the hours when children most frequently watch tel evision. It is estimated that the announce ments reached one and a half million homes. T he dental society also purchased sev eral hundred “ Swish and Swallow” post ers to place above water fountains and in cafeterias in the Polk County schools. In Utah, the dental health committee
an o riginal dram atization on the state board o f health's presentation grew out o f a dental health study in the Trubman, supervisor o f public health dentistry, called the a c tio n ."
REPORTS OF C O U N C ILS AND BUREAUS . . . VO LUM E 68, JU N E 1964 • 125/893
of the U tah State Dental Association pro duced a television show on the value of fluoridation, in cooperation with the di rector of health education for the state department of public instruction. The show was kinescoped and shown, on an educational television station, K U E D , to secondary school health teachers and seniors. In Springfield, M o., when the local dental health week chairman taped the concluding announcement for the Dick Van Dyke show, a large dental health week window display was used as a back ground. The poster was left at the station and was used as a background for several local shows during the week. Each time the poster was used, mention was made of the dental health week. In New York City, radio station WNBG cooperated with the Oral Hygiene Com mittee of Greater New York in the ob servance of Children’s Dental Health Week by conducting an on-the-air true or false dental health quiz contest. T he questions read over the air were selected by the station from a list supplied by the O ral Hygiene Committee. Listeners were required to send in postal cards listing the numbers 1 to 5 and, after each numeral, the word “ true” or “ false.” The station determined the winners. Sixty-six prizes (the number correspond ing to W NBC’s position on the radio dial) were provided by the Oral Hygiene Committee. First prize was a $100 savings bond and an electric toothbrush. The other 65 prizes were electric toothbrushes. W NBC broadcast approximately a hundred announcements of the contest from January 29 through February 7. In Georgia, fifty-four radio stations were given tape recordings m ade of a discussion of reasons for not offering sweets for sale to children during school hours. The Iow a Dental Hygienists Associa tion prepared a five-minute radio pro gram and four spot announcements on dental health. T apes were distributed to the 70 radio stations in Iowa.
This was one of four restaurants with marqueetyp e signs in Bowling G re e n , Ky., which rem inded its customers, during the d ental health week, of the need fo r dental care. Dental health week posters were displayed in the various businesses in Bowling G re e n .
N E W S P A P E R P U B L IC IT Y
A number of dental societies were success ful this year in having picture stories re lated to dental health published in their local newspapers. M any were full page; in some instances an article or articles accompanied the pictures, whereas in others only photographs were used. In all cases the pictures were of local citizens, and the articles quoted local dental soci ety members and discussed the local pro gram. The public relations committee of the San Diego County Dental Society pre pared and sent out 30 news releases con cerning the appointment of dental health week area chairmen in the county. U su
126/894 • T H E JO U R N A L O F THE A M ER IC A N DENTAL A SSOCIATION
ally the release was accompanied by a photograph of the chairman. Each story was especially prepared with local tie-ins to assure maximum exposure in the pe riod preceding the dental health week. An article in the Chanute Tribune, Chanute, K an., explained the advantages derived from fluoridation of the city’s water supply. Statistics from the school dental inspections were used for a graph published with the article to show the improvement in children’s dental health. In the February 3 issue of the Hartford Courant, Children’s Dental Health Week was featured in a seven-column institur tional advertisement. T he advertisement was one in a series, run monthly since February 1961, sponsored by the mem bers of the Pharmaceutical Society of Hartford County, Conn. The advertise
ment gave information about oral diseases and pointed out the measures that can help Americans have better dental health. SC H O O L PROGRAM S
In Philadelphia, disc jockeys were invited to assemblies in the 27 junior high schools during National Children’s Dental Health Week. The disc jockeys gave five-minute talks on dental health and then for ten minutes discussed their work and day’s activities. They also answered questions from the audience. Program directors of junior high school assemblies and principals of the various schools voted these programs an unusual success. An attempt is being made through the dental department of the Philadel phia Board of Public Education to carry
G a y and K a y Brown, 9-year-olds who live in Tifton, G a ., posed fo r pictures that w ere used as a running theme in the 10-page re p o rt on dental health week in the J O U R N A L O F T H E G E O R G I A D E N T A L A S S O C I A T IO N . Their smiling faces, the report said, offer "d o u b le e vid en ce th a t good dental care starts early and pays off in p retty te e th ."
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REPORTS OF COUNCILS AND BUREAUS . . . VOLUME 68, JU N E 1964 • 127/895
Francis R. Kronner, president, M ich ig a n S tate Ph arm aceutical A ssociation (rig h t), shows L. J . W ie s of Lansing how M ich ig a n pharm acists plan to publicize N atio n al C h ildren 's Dental H e alth W e e k . Sim ilar posters were sent to 2,300 pharm a cies. Dr. W ie s was state co-chairman fo r the 1964 d ental health week.
on this type of program periodically throughout the school year. In Minneapolis, Minn., fourth and fifth graders in the Michael Dowling School for Physically Handicapped Chil dren developed and presented to the en tire school an original play on dental health. The youngsters made all their own props, including an x-ray unit from a shoe box, a dental drill of wire, string and pencil tip, a tray and a water basin. They also wrote an original song. A dental hygienist for the Minneapolis schools said : “ It was by far the best per formance by school-age children that I have seen in many years. It was outstand ing because the players were casual, natu ral, well-informed. Yet they are severely handicapped children, many in wheel chairs, some so palsied that straps are re quired to keep them in a sitting position in their specially built chairs. Every child had some part in the play in spite of his or her handicap. “ The play was the culminating activity for dental health week. During the week every teacher in the school had taught her class a unit on dental health. When I expressed some doubt to teachers about the ability of some children to follow
through on the learning and instructions they received for home care during the development of the unit, their reply was that, even though some of the children could not brush their own teeth, they had learned and were motivated enough to ask their parents to do it for them.” Forty-six schools in Dutchess County, New York, were reached during the den tal health week with one or more pro grams. In February schools were already requesting materials for next year, ac cording to the dental society chairman. Members of the dental auxiliary wrote and produced a puppet show, “ Micky M olar to the Rescue.” They gave 19 per formances in 13 county elementary schools for children in kindergarten through third grade. T he auxiliary also set up a dental health teaching unit for Grades 4 to 6. It correlated basic dental health facts with a poster contest and a skit performed by the children in a school assembly. Auxil iary members also wrote this script; they suggested this technic for using it: (1)
A n original play, written as a group p ro je ct by sixth graders a t W r ig h t School in Des Moines, Iowa, was tap e d and presented three times during d ental health week o ver KDPS-TV, Des M oines' edu catio nal television station. The play, "D re am in ' Things a t N ig h t,” was judged winner in an all-city elem en tary school com petition in observance of C h ildren 's Dental H e a lth W e e k . This photograph was published in the D ES M O IN E S T R IB U N E Feb ruary 4.
128/894 • THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION
posters in a skit which is student inspired. (5) Practice in class, using the script as a guide. (6) Discuss what you could do along similar lines. (7) Organize and pro duce a classroom skit, using the script as a guide, changing it to meet the needs of each class. Forty dental hygiene students at the University of Michigan— the entire ad vanced class—visited 23 schools during the week of February 2. In each of the second, third and fourth grade classrooms the students visited, they gave a 20-min ute program on the causes of dental de cay, proper methods of toothbrushing and the care of teeth and gums. W it h his arms full o f trophies, R a fe r Johnson (rig h t), O ly m p ic d ecathlon cham pion and youth leader, accep ts the honorary chairm anship of d ental health week from R o b e rt C . Read, dental health week chairm an fo r Los A n g e les C o un ty Dental Society.
Teach basic dental health facts. (2) Have the art teacher talk about poster technic. (3) Correlate dental health teaching with poster ideas. (4) T ry to correlate these
O T H E R PR O G R A M S
In Cedar R apids, Iow a, a speech by an officer of the juvenile bureau of the po lice department inspired part of the den tal health week program of the dental society in that city. T he police officer mentioned as one of the possible causes of delinquency the condition of the youngsters’ teeth, particularly if the teeth
C a p i Ed g a r F. Flickinger (le ft) and C a p t. Thomas R. W a tts inspect a p reven tive dentistry poster displayed during the d ental health week a t Fo rt Sill, Okla.
REPORTS OF COUNCILS AND BUREAUS . . VOLUME 68, JU N E 1964 • 129/897
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Fourth and fifth graders in the M ich ae l Dowling School o f Physically H a n d ic a p p e d C h ild ren in M in neap olis wrote and p erform ed in a p lay on d en tal health. The children pointed out w h at to do and w h at not to do fo r good d ental health.
are deformed or carious or malpositioned. T he dental society got in touch with the school social worker in Cedar Rapids. A meeting was arranged with him and other interested school personnel to de termine what the dentists could do to help potentially delinquent children. Thirty-two dentists volunteered to re habilitate completely the mouth of one indigent child ten years old or older. The planning committee determined that the school nurses should select the children. Only one child from a family would be accepted for the program. T he family had to be in a marginal income bracket, with parents alert enough to profit from a dental hygiene orientation program. In general, the children should require fill ings or extractions. T he parents were required to give writ ten consent for the dental work and a waiver of liability for any school person nel involved in transporting a child to or from a dental appointment. A dental chart of each prospective pa tient meeting these qualifications had to
The P O S T D A IL Y B U L L E T IN and the O R D N A N C E G U ID E D M IS S IL E D A IL Y B U L L E T IN at R edstone Arsenal, A la., ran flyers each d a y during the d ental health week. This was one o f those which th e y ran.
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Fourth graders a t H y d e School in W ic h ita , Kan., made this display. They cu t out the figures of the boys and girls and colored them with w a ter colors. The letters fo r "D e n ta l H e a lth W e e k " were made from pink cards which the children bring to the school a fte r they have had a d ental checkup and necessary treatm ent has been com p leted .
be presented to a dental society screening committee by December 11. One parent and the child who was a prospective patient had to attend an ori entation meeting on December 18. At the meeting the program was explained, and the importance of cooperation at home in oral hygiene and good dietary habits was emphasized. In order to avoid misunder standings, it was pointed out that, if addi tional treatment is needed at a later time, the responsibility of the dentist will have
Lt. C o l. A n d re w Christopher, p reven tive dentistry officer a t Fo rt O rd , C alif., co rrects the w ay a kindergartner holds her toothbrush. C o lo n el C h ris to ph er talked and showed films to the 884 pupils in the Jo se p h W . Stilw ell School.
ended, and a charge will be m ade for the further treatment. The San Diego County Dental Society began preparing for its dental health week program at a meeting in November. Representatives of the various society committees concerned with the program as well as women’s auxiliary members, laboratory technicians and San Diego Children’s Dental Health Center person nel attended the meeting. At this meeting February 5 was the date chosen for the annual Children’s Dental Health Week lunch, which at tracts some 400 San Diego civic, edu cational, dental and medical leaders. Speaker at the luncheon this year was Reidar F. Sognnaes, dean of the school of dentistry at the University of California at Los Angeles. Both the San Diego Union and the Evening Tribune assigned report ers and photographers to the meeting, with stories and pictures appearing in the next day’s editions. T he two San Diego television stations with regularly sched uled news programs also assigned cam era men to the event, and films of the meeting were shown later in the day. Follow-up stories were carried by two suburban weeklies which print editions on Sundays. In Gary, Ind., the dental health week committee also serves as a health advisory committee to both the public and paro chial schools throughout the year. M em
REPORTS OF COUNCILS AND BUREAUS
bers of the committee in 1964 were the president of the dental society, the public school dentist and two other dentists. A d ditional members were representatives of the public and parochial schools, the di rector of health and safety for the public schools, the health commissioner for Gary, the chief nurse for the public schools, the director of the combined public health nursing agency and two representatives of the auxiliary to the Northwest Indiana Dental Society. Chair man of the committee is one of the den tists. T he headquarters for the dental health week program was the Gary Board of Health, which handled all administra tive details. The chairman of the Georgia Dental Association’s council on dental health presented to the president of the Georgia
. VOLUME 68, JU N E 1764 • 131/899
Congress of Parents and Teachers a cita tion in recognition of a significant contri bution to the 16th annual observance of National Children’s Dental Health Week. T he council chairman expressed appreci ation of the Georgia Dental Association for the leadership given by state and local P T A ’s in the promotion of health and specifically dental health. T he board of managers of the Georgia Congress of Parents and Teachers then adopted the following m otion: “ That the Georgia Congress of Parents and Teachers reaffirm its commitment and strengthen its efforts to promote better dental health for all Georgia children through fluoridation of public water sup plies, through education, through con tinuous dental supervision and through recruitment of dental personnel.”
Tam ara H aroldson mimics the "Sw ish and Sw allow " poster fo r Mrs. Je a n n e Erickson, school nurse. This was one o f e ig h t photographs published, with an article on dental health week, in the H U A C H U C A S C O U T , Fo rt H uachuca, Ariz.
The m ayor of Colum bia, S .C ., signed a p ro cla mation fo r C hildren's D ental H e alth W e e k , but it was his grandson, Buddy, whose picture was published in the C o lu m bia ST A R -REPO R T ER Feb ruary 6.
Members of the Women’s Auxiliary to the Upper Hudson Dental Society manned a booth set up in a department store in Glens Falls, N .Y ., distributing m aterials on dental health. During the five days the booth was in the store, 6,000 pieces of literature were distributed to the public. Also, various displays were placed in the windows of stores in downtown Glens Falls and in shopping centers.' In Louisville, Ky., members of the women’s auxiliary visited all Louisville hospitals to present toothbrushes to the mothers of children bom the week prior to the visit. The first child born in the hospital during that period received a sil-
A t left is R e id ar F. Sognnaes, dean o f the school o f d entistry a t the U n iversity o f C alifo rn ia at Los Angeles, and a t right is the m ayor o f San Diego, Frank S. C u rran. Dr. Sognnaes was the speaker this y e a r at San Diego's annual C h ildren 's Dental H e alth W e e k luncheon.
ver handled brush. All others received a regular junior sized brush with either a pink handle (for girls) or a blue handle (for boys). On each brush was a sticker reading: “ Because they enter toothless, they do not have to leave toothless.” The importance of early and regular brushing was emphasized to the mothers. In Cincinnati, Ohio, a temporary clinic with two dental chairs and units was set up in a department store during the den tal health week. There were two displays, “ Careers in Dentistry” and “ Straight Ahead for Fluoridation,” in the same room. Twelve teams, each composed of a den tist, a dental hygienist and a dental assist ant, worked half a day in the clinic. While a child waited, he sucked a disclos ing tablet that stained any deposits on his teeth. This enabled the dental team to show the parents how much a prophylaxis could accomplish. Also the child’s mouth was examined, and oral hygiene was dis cussed. A recommendation was made that the child visit his dentist at a specific time for corrective and preventive care. Each child received a toothbrush, tooth paste and pamphlets on dental health. A total of 341 children were examined. The dental health week chairman for Cincinnati said: “There were no more than 10 cases of actual neglect. Most of the patients had been seeing a dentist on a somewhat regular basis. . . . Many chil dren had no obvious cavities. All of the families were interested in dentistry. Very few families could be considered dentally deprived, while most of the families seemed to be of modest means. The good level of dental health may be because of the particular location of the clinic (in a middle-class suburban center) an d/or be cause the underprivileged families are not educated to dentistry.” A R M Y PR O G R A M S
At Fort Dix, N .J., an extensive publicity program for dental health week was planned. Two special matinee film pro
REPORTS OF COUNCILS AND BUREAUS . . . VOLUME 68, JU N E 1964 • 133/901
grams, with a film on dental health, were shown in one post theater the first two Saturdays in February. The dental service detachment provided the projector, the projectionists, special ushers and a clean up detail so as to place no additional burden on the regular theater staff. Slides of the dental health week poster were produced and flashed on the screens of all four of the post theaters during intermissions at regular feature programs. With the cooperation of the post ex change officer, an outline of the various
aspects of the program was presented to the post exchange window designer. Them e chosen for the display was “ Three Ways to Good Dental Health.” T he dis play included various dental hygiene products offered by the post exchange, posters on dental health and an automatic continuous run slide viewer. The commissary officer and store m an ager agreed to have the bag packing crew at each checkout counter place a leaflet on dental health in one bag of every cus tomer during the dental health week.
This is one o f two photographs that ap p e ared in the S A C R A M E N T O U N IO N , Sacram ento, C alif., February 7. The captio n explained that among special facilitie s for dental care in the Sacram ento area is operating room care fo r unusual m edical o r em otional problems in which procedures are carried out under a g eneral anesthetic in local hospitals. This p hotograph shows C h este r W . M errill, president of S acram ento D istrict Dental Society, and Stu art Stein berg , M .D., checking a p atie n t in the reco very room.
134/902 • THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION
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This was one of three photographs which ap p eared in color on the fro nt p ag e o f the women's section of T H E N A S H V IL L E T E N N E S S E A N February 2. A ll three photographs related to dental health. C ap tio n on this one re ad : "M rs . Ja m e s Denton, left, and Mrs. Ja c k Schm itt, members o f the A uxiliary to the N ashville D ental Society, place a poster in a d ep artm e n t store."
In addition, posters were placed in nu merous areas where, a survey had indi cated, the most persons would see them; spot announcements were given on the army hospital radio station, and two ar ticles on dental health appeared in the Fort Dix Post. At Redstone Arsenal, Ala., 14 bill boards with a dental health and safety theme were produced, through the co operation of the post safety officer, the post engineer artists branch and the post dental surgeon. T he illustrations were drawings, in a cartoon style. T he post dental surgeon reported: “ The result of the billboard displays were phenomenal. Comments were many, and patient load for examination increased. T he oral health of the four artists who made the billboards improved. They became excep tionally dental conscious.” Among the slogans used for the bill boards were: “ T ake care of your teeth; no one else will.” “ Defective tools make
defective teeth; keep both in good condi tion.” “ For appearance and health’s sake take care of your teeth.” “ Teeth for tools is the m ark of fools.” “Guards in place help keep teeth in face.” School bus posters drawn on different colored paper were posted in the 25 R ed stone Arsenal school buses starting Ja n u ary 15. The posters disappeared and had to be replaced frequently. T he explana tion? “ It was found that teen-agers were posting the signs in their rooms. This seemed better dissemination of informa tion than posting in the buses.” At Fort Benning, Ga., 14 dental officers who had volunteered to help in the dental health week program spoke to classes in the post schools. T he teachers had previ ously received outlines and charts and had prepared the children for the den tists’ visits to the classrooms. Each dentist gave a 15 minute talk, adapted to the children’s age level, and then, for a few minutes, encouraged the youngsters to ask questions. On February 11 the deputy post dental surgeon spoke to the PTA. His speech had three purposes: to recog nize the teachers and administrators who cooperated in the dental health week pro gram ; to stress the ideas the children had brought home from school, which, it is hoped, the parents are trying to apply, and to recognize publicly the assistance of the dentists who had worked on the program.
School children in Boise, Idaho, prep are their own poster fo r N atio n al C h ildren 's D ental H ealth W e ek .
B U R E A U O F D E N T A L H E A L T H E D U C A T IO N
Perhaps it is too early to call it a trend, but each year a few more of the reports on dental health week programs point out that either there is a year-round den tal health program in the community or so much enthusiasm has been aroused by the dental health week program that plans are being m ade for a year-round program. This is the goal stressed in the Bureau of Dental Health Education’s materials, dental health education for 52 weeks, not merely one week, each year. However, a
concentrated one-week program serves to give emphasis. M any dentists and others devoted a great deal of time and effort to make the 1964 dental health week a success in their communities. For the 1964 dental health week the Bureau of Dental Health Education dis tributed approximately 5,550 program planning packets and 445,000 posters without charge. In addition, some 1,250,000 miniature posters, 20,530 car cards and 1,125 outdoor advertising posters were used in the various programs.
C o n te st winners display th eir d ental health posters a t the Dental Fair fo r D ental C a re sponsored by the N e w O rleans Dental Association. Som e 7,000 persons attend ed the fair, which com bined e ntertain m ent with some lessons in d ental health. O n e lesson: only noncariogenic food was a va ilab le a t the fair.
os t o n s w e s
REPORTS OF C O U N C ILS AND BUREAUS
•VO LUM E 68, JU N E 1964 • 123/891
"D r. Z o o m ," a Vancouver, W ash ., television station entertainer, was featu red week p ub licity of the C lark C o u n ty Dental S o cie ty.
Procter and Gamble gave the commer cial time on the nationwide Dick V an Dyke show February 5 to the American Dental Association. In some 100 com munities representatives of the local den tal societies gave the concluding an nouncement on the show; on other stations Mr. Van Dyke gave this an nouncement. For the sixth year the Rom per Room television show featured dental health during the first week in February. T he National Dairy Council and the Interna tional Apple Association, Inc., again made materials available to dental socie ties throughout the country. Reports of many excellent programs were sent to the Bureau of Dental Health Education. It is impossible to describe more than a small number of the pro grams in this report. Therefore, an at tempt has been made to choose aspects of various programs that other dental so
in the dental
health
cieties may wish to adapt to their own use next year. T E L E V IS IO N A N D RADIO
In San Antonio, Texas, dentists observed the 16th National Children’s Dental Health Week by premiering a new dental health education film, “ The Hidden Ene my.” The film was produced by the San Antonio District Dental Society and K L R N -T V , an educational television sta tion. The film has two purposes: (1) to try to reach high school and junior high school students with a factual, graphic story of the scientific reasons for the decay of teeth and associated dental health problems; (2) to reach elementary school teachers with the same information, so that they can take the facts to their stu dents. The society hopes eventually to pro
124/892 • THE JO U R N A L OF THE A M ER IC A N DENTAL A SSO CIA TIO N
duce a series of films on dental health which can be shown periodically through out the year. In Bowling Green, K y., two dentists appeared on Station W L T V ’s program “ 13 Tid-Bits.” A large rural audience watches the program, which serves as a community bulletin board. During the 30 minute interview the two doctors an swered such questions as: What is Chil dren’s Dental Health Week? How is it being observed locally? Why is a healthy mouth important? What are some of the m ajor dental problems people have? What can be done to prevent them? In Chattanooga, Tenn., on the “ Fit for Living” television program presented by the board of education, nine dental pro grams were presented in January and three during the dental health week. The following week winners of the poster con test were guests. T he programs consisted of short talks, films, demonstrations and charts for dental health instruction to ele mentary schools in the area. Dental hygienists and assistants helped the regular staff prepare some of the programs. In addition, each day of the dental health
Sixth graders in Jackson, Miss., presented monthly program on Statio n W L B T . The classroom. W in d in g up the telecast, A a ro n program "a p rod uct of health educatio n in
week one or two interviews, panel discus sions or programs with dentists, auxiliary members, hygienists or dental assistants as guests were presented on each of the television stations in Chattanooga. In Des Moines, Iow a, the dental society prepared a one-minute spot announce ment for use on Stations W H O -T V and K R N T -T V . A child was shown “ swishing and swallowing” ; then an announcer read a short script stressing the importance of regular dental appointments, restriction of sweets and brushing immediately after eating or “ if that’s impossible, be sure to do as our smiling young lady suggests: If you can’t brush after eating, swish and swallow.” T he announcements were used during prime viewing time as well as the hours when children most frequently watch tel evision. It is estimated that the announce ments reached one and a half million homes. T he dental society also purchased sev eral hundred “ Swish and Swallow” post ers to place above water fountains and in cafeterias in the Polk County schools. In Utah, the dental health committee
an o riginal dram atization on the state board o f health's presentation grew out o f a dental health study in the Trubman, supervisor o f public health dentistry, called the a c tio n ."
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of the U tah State Dental Association pro duced a television show on the value of fluoridation, in cooperation with the di rector of health education for the state department of public instruction. The show was kinescoped and shown, on an educational television station, K U E D , to secondary school health teachers and seniors. In Springfield, M o., when the local dental health week chairman taped the concluding announcement for the Dick Van Dyke show, a large dental health week window display was used as a back ground. The poster was left at the station and was used as a background for several local shows during the week. Each time the poster was used, mention was made of the dental health week. In New York City, radio station WNBG cooperated with the Oral Hygiene Com mittee of Greater New York in the ob servance of Children’s Dental Health Week by conducting an on-the-air true or false dental health quiz contest. T he questions read over the air were selected by the station from a list supplied by the O ral Hygiene Committee. Listeners were required to send in postal cards listing the numbers 1 to 5 and, after each numeral, the word “ true” or “ false.” The station determined the winners. Sixty-six prizes (the number correspond ing to W NBC’s position on the radio dial) were provided by the Oral Hygiene Committee. First prize was a $100 savings bond and an electric toothbrush. The other 65 prizes were electric toothbrushes. W NBC broadcast approximately a hundred announcements of the contest from January 29 through February 7. In Georgia, fifty-four radio stations were given tape recordings m ade of a discussion of reasons for not offering sweets for sale to children during school hours. The Iow a Dental Hygienists Associa tion prepared a five-minute radio pro gram and four spot announcements on dental health. T apes were distributed to the 70 radio stations in Iowa.
This was one of four restaurants with marqueetyp e signs in Bowling G re e n , Ky., which rem inded its customers, during the d ental health week, of the need fo r dental care. Dental health week posters were displayed in the various businesses in Bowling G re e n .
N E W S P A P E R P U B L IC IT Y
A number of dental societies were success ful this year in having picture stories re lated to dental health published in their local newspapers. M any were full page; in some instances an article or articles accompanied the pictures, whereas in others only photographs were used. In all cases the pictures were of local citizens, and the articles quoted local dental soci ety members and discussed the local pro gram. The public relations committee of the San Diego County Dental Society pre pared and sent out 30 news releases con cerning the appointment of dental health week area chairmen in the county. U su
126/894 • T H E JO U R N A L O F THE A M ER IC A N DENTAL A SSOCIATION
ally the release was accompanied by a photograph of the chairman. Each story was especially prepared with local tie-ins to assure maximum exposure in the pe riod preceding the dental health week. An article in the Chanute Tribune, Chanute, K an., explained the advantages derived from fluoridation of the city’s water supply. Statistics from the school dental inspections were used for a graph published with the article to show the improvement in children’s dental health. In the February 3 issue of the Hartford Courant, Children’s Dental Health Week was featured in a seven-column institur tional advertisement. T he advertisement was one in a series, run monthly since February 1961, sponsored by the mem bers of the Pharmaceutical Society of Hartford County, Conn. The advertise
ment gave information about oral diseases and pointed out the measures that can help Americans have better dental health. SC H O O L PROGRAM S
In Philadelphia, disc jockeys were invited to assemblies in the 27 junior high schools during National Children’s Dental Health Week. The disc jockeys gave five-minute talks on dental health and then for ten minutes discussed their work and day’s activities. They also answered questions from the audience. Program directors of junior high school assemblies and principals of the various schools voted these programs an unusual success. An attempt is being made through the dental department of the Philadel phia Board of Public Education to carry
G a y and K a y Brown, 9-year-olds who live in Tifton, G a ., posed fo r pictures that w ere used as a running theme in the 10-page re p o rt on dental health week in the J O U R N A L O F T H E G E O R G I A D E N T A L A S S O C I A T IO N . Their smiling faces, the report said, offer "d o u b le e vid en ce th a t good dental care starts early and pays off in p retty te e th ."
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REPORTS OF COUNCILS AND BUREAUS . . . VOLUME 68, JU N E 1964 • 127/895
Francis R. Kronner, president, M ich ig a n S tate Ph arm aceutical A ssociation (rig h t), shows L. J . W ie s of Lansing how M ich ig a n pharm acists plan to publicize N atio n al C h ildren 's Dental H e alth W e e k . Sim ilar posters were sent to 2,300 pharm a cies. Dr. W ie s was state co-chairman fo r the 1964 d ental health week.
on this type of program periodically throughout the school year. In Minneapolis, Minn., fourth and fifth graders in the Michael Dowling School for Physically Handicapped Chil dren developed and presented to the en tire school an original play on dental health. The youngsters made all their own props, including an x-ray unit from a shoe box, a dental drill of wire, string and pencil tip, a tray and a water basin. They also wrote an original song. A dental hygienist for the Minneapolis schools said : “ It was by far the best per formance by school-age children that I have seen in many years. It was outstand ing because the players were casual, natu ral, well-informed. Yet they are severely handicapped children, many in wheel chairs, some so palsied that straps are re quired to keep them in a sitting position in their specially built chairs. Every child had some part in the play in spite of his or her handicap. “ The play was the culminating activity for dental health week. During the week every teacher in the school had taught her class a unit on dental health. When I expressed some doubt to teachers about the ability of some children to follow
through on the learning and instructions they received for home care during the development of the unit, their reply was that, even though some of the children could not brush their own teeth, they had learned and were motivated enough to ask their parents to do it for them.” Forty-six schools in Dutchess County, New York, were reached during the den tal health week with one or more pro grams. In February schools were already requesting materials for next year, ac cording to the dental society chairman. Members of the dental auxiliary wrote and produced a puppet show, “ Micky M olar to the Rescue.” They gave 19 per formances in 13 county elementary schools for children in kindergarten through third grade. T he auxiliary also set up a dental health teaching unit for Grades 4 to 6. It correlated basic dental health facts with a poster contest and a skit performed by the children in a school assembly. Auxil iary members also wrote this script; they suggested this technic for using it: (1)
A n original play, written as a group p ro je ct by sixth graders a t W r ig h t School in Des Moines, Iowa, was tap e d and presented three times during d ental health week o ver KDPS-TV, Des M oines' edu catio nal television station. The play, "D re am in ' Things a t N ig h t,” was judged winner in an all-city elem en tary school com petition in observance of C h ildren 's Dental H e a lth W e e k . This photograph was published in the D ES M O IN E S T R IB U N E Feb ruary 4.
128/894 • THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION
posters in a skit which is student inspired. (5) Practice in class, using the script as a guide. (6) Discuss what you could do along similar lines. (7) Organize and pro duce a classroom skit, using the script as a guide, changing it to meet the needs of each class. Forty dental hygiene students at the University of Michigan— the entire ad vanced class—visited 23 schools during the week of February 2. In each of the second, third and fourth grade classrooms the students visited, they gave a 20-min ute program on the causes of dental de cay, proper methods of toothbrushing and the care of teeth and gums. W it h his arms full o f trophies, R a fe r Johnson (rig h t), O ly m p ic d ecathlon cham pion and youth leader, accep ts the honorary chairm anship of d ental health week from R o b e rt C . Read, dental health week chairm an fo r Los A n g e les C o un ty Dental Society.
Teach basic dental health facts. (2) Have the art teacher talk about poster technic. (3) Correlate dental health teaching with poster ideas. (4) T ry to correlate these
O T H E R PR O G R A M S
In Cedar R apids, Iow a, a speech by an officer of the juvenile bureau of the po lice department inspired part of the den tal health week program of the dental society in that city. T he police officer mentioned as one of the possible causes of delinquency the condition of the youngsters’ teeth, particularly if the teeth
C a p i Ed g a r F. Flickinger (le ft) and C a p t. Thomas R. W a tts inspect a p reven tive dentistry poster displayed during the d ental health week a t Fo rt Sill, Okla.
REPORTS OF COUNCILS AND BUREAUS . . VOLUME 68, JU N E 1964 • 129/897
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Fourth and fifth graders in the M ich ae l Dowling School o f Physically H a n d ic a p p e d C h ild ren in M in neap olis wrote and p erform ed in a p lay on d en tal health. The children pointed out w h at to do and w h at not to do fo r good d ental health.
are deformed or carious or malpositioned. T he dental society got in touch with the school social worker in Cedar Rapids. A meeting was arranged with him and other interested school personnel to de termine what the dentists could do to help potentially delinquent children. Thirty-two dentists volunteered to re habilitate completely the mouth of one indigent child ten years old or older. The planning committee determined that the school nurses should select the children. Only one child from a family would be accepted for the program. T he family had to be in a marginal income bracket, with parents alert enough to profit from a dental hygiene orientation program. In general, the children should require fill ings or extractions. T he parents were required to give writ ten consent for the dental work and a waiver of liability for any school person nel involved in transporting a child to or from a dental appointment. A dental chart of each prospective pa tient meeting these qualifications had to
The P O S T D A IL Y B U L L E T IN and the O R D N A N C E G U ID E D M IS S IL E D A IL Y B U L L E T IN at R edstone Arsenal, A la., ran flyers each d a y during the d ental health week. This was one o f those which th e y ran.
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Fourth graders a t H y d e School in W ic h ita , Kan., made this display. They cu t out the figures of the boys and girls and colored them with w a ter colors. The letters fo r "D e n ta l H e a lth W e e k " were made from pink cards which the children bring to the school a fte r they have had a d ental checkup and necessary treatm ent has been com p leted .
be presented to a dental society screening committee by December 11. One parent and the child who was a prospective patient had to attend an ori entation meeting on December 18. At the meeting the program was explained, and the importance of cooperation at home in oral hygiene and good dietary habits was emphasized. In order to avoid misunder standings, it was pointed out that, if addi tional treatment is needed at a later time, the responsibility of the dentist will have
Lt. C o l. A n d re w Christopher, p reven tive dentistry officer a t Fo rt O rd , C alif., co rrects the w ay a kindergartner holds her toothbrush. C o lo n el C h ris to ph er talked and showed films to the 884 pupils in the Jo se p h W . Stilw ell School.
ended, and a charge will be m ade for the further treatment. The San Diego County Dental Society began preparing for its dental health week program at a meeting in November. Representatives of the various society committees concerned with the program as well as women’s auxiliary members, laboratory technicians and San Diego Children’s Dental Health Center person nel attended the meeting. At this meeting February 5 was the date chosen for the annual Children’s Dental Health Week lunch, which at tracts some 400 San Diego civic, edu cational, dental and medical leaders. Speaker at the luncheon this year was Reidar F. Sognnaes, dean of the school of dentistry at the University of California at Los Angeles. Both the San Diego Union and the Evening Tribune assigned report ers and photographers to the meeting, with stories and pictures appearing in the next day’s editions. T he two San Diego television stations with regularly sched uled news programs also assigned cam era men to the event, and films of the meeting were shown later in the day. Follow-up stories were carried by two suburban weeklies which print editions on Sundays. In Gary, Ind., the dental health week committee also serves as a health advisory committee to both the public and paro chial schools throughout the year. M em
REPORTS OF COUNCILS AND BUREAUS
bers of the committee in 1964 were the president of the dental society, the public school dentist and two other dentists. A d ditional members were representatives of the public and parochial schools, the di rector of health and safety for the public schools, the health commissioner for Gary, the chief nurse for the public schools, the director of the combined public health nursing agency and two representatives of the auxiliary to the Northwest Indiana Dental Society. Chair man of the committee is one of the den tists. T he headquarters for the dental health week program was the Gary Board of Health, which handled all administra tive details. The chairman of the Georgia Dental Association’s council on dental health presented to the president of the Georgia
. VOLUME 68, JU N E 1764 • 131/899
Congress of Parents and Teachers a cita tion in recognition of a significant contri bution to the 16th annual observance of National Children’s Dental Health Week. T he council chairman expressed appreci ation of the Georgia Dental Association for the leadership given by state and local P T A ’s in the promotion of health and specifically dental health. T he board of managers of the Georgia Congress of Parents and Teachers then adopted the following m otion: “ That the Georgia Congress of Parents and Teachers reaffirm its commitment and strengthen its efforts to promote better dental health for all Georgia children through fluoridation of public water sup plies, through education, through con tinuous dental supervision and through recruitment of dental personnel.”
Tam ara H aroldson mimics the "Sw ish and Sw allow " poster fo r Mrs. Je a n n e Erickson, school nurse. This was one o f e ig h t photographs published, with an article on dental health week, in the H U A C H U C A S C O U T , Fo rt H uachuca, Ariz.
The m ayor of Colum bia, S .C ., signed a p ro cla mation fo r C hildren's D ental H e alth W e e k , but it was his grandson, Buddy, whose picture was published in the C o lu m bia ST A R -REPO R T ER Feb ruary 6.
Members of the Women’s Auxiliary to the Upper Hudson Dental Society manned a booth set up in a department store in Glens Falls, N .Y ., distributing m aterials on dental health. During the five days the booth was in the store, 6,000 pieces of literature were distributed to the public. Also, various displays were placed in the windows of stores in downtown Glens Falls and in shopping centers.' In Louisville, Ky., members of the women’s auxiliary visited all Louisville hospitals to present toothbrushes to the mothers of children bom the week prior to the visit. The first child born in the hospital during that period received a sil-
A t left is R e id ar F. Sognnaes, dean o f the school o f d entistry a t the U n iversity o f C alifo rn ia at Los Angeles, and a t right is the m ayor o f San Diego, Frank S. C u rran. Dr. Sognnaes was the speaker this y e a r at San Diego's annual C h ildren 's Dental H e alth W e e k luncheon.
ver handled brush. All others received a regular junior sized brush with either a pink handle (for girls) or a blue handle (for boys). On each brush was a sticker reading: “ Because they enter toothless, they do not have to leave toothless.” The importance of early and regular brushing was emphasized to the mothers. In Cincinnati, Ohio, a temporary clinic with two dental chairs and units was set up in a department store during the den tal health week. There were two displays, “ Careers in Dentistry” and “ Straight Ahead for Fluoridation,” in the same room. Twelve teams, each composed of a den tist, a dental hygienist and a dental assist ant, worked half a day in the clinic. While a child waited, he sucked a disclos ing tablet that stained any deposits on his teeth. This enabled the dental team to show the parents how much a prophylaxis could accomplish. Also the child’s mouth was examined, and oral hygiene was dis cussed. A recommendation was made that the child visit his dentist at a specific time for corrective and preventive care. Each child received a toothbrush, tooth paste and pamphlets on dental health. A total of 341 children were examined. The dental health week chairman for Cincinnati said: “There were no more than 10 cases of actual neglect. Most of the patients had been seeing a dentist on a somewhat regular basis. . . . Many chil dren had no obvious cavities. All of the families were interested in dentistry. Very few families could be considered dentally deprived, while most of the families seemed to be of modest means. The good level of dental health may be because of the particular location of the clinic (in a middle-class suburban center) an d/or be cause the underprivileged families are not educated to dentistry.” A R M Y PR O G R A M S
At Fort Dix, N .J., an extensive publicity program for dental health week was planned. Two special matinee film pro
REPORTS OF COUNCILS AND BUREAUS . . . VOLUME 68, JU N E 1964 • 133/901
grams, with a film on dental health, were shown in one post theater the first two Saturdays in February. The dental service detachment provided the projector, the projectionists, special ushers and a clean up detail so as to place no additional burden on the regular theater staff. Slides of the dental health week poster were produced and flashed on the screens of all four of the post theaters during intermissions at regular feature programs. With the cooperation of the post ex change officer, an outline of the various
aspects of the program was presented to the post exchange window designer. Them e chosen for the display was “ Three Ways to Good Dental Health.” T he dis play included various dental hygiene products offered by the post exchange, posters on dental health and an automatic continuous run slide viewer. The commissary officer and store m an ager agreed to have the bag packing crew at each checkout counter place a leaflet on dental health in one bag of every cus tomer during the dental health week.
This is one o f two photographs that ap p e ared in the S A C R A M E N T O U N IO N , Sacram ento, C alif., February 7. The captio n explained that among special facilitie s for dental care in the Sacram ento area is operating room care fo r unusual m edical o r em otional problems in which procedures are carried out under a g eneral anesthetic in local hospitals. This p hotograph shows C h este r W . M errill, president of S acram ento D istrict Dental Society, and Stu art Stein berg , M .D., checking a p atie n t in the reco very room.
134/902 • THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION
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This was one of three photographs which ap p eared in color on the fro nt p ag e o f the women's section of T H E N A S H V IL L E T E N N E S S E A N February 2. A ll three photographs related to dental health. C ap tio n on this one re ad : "M rs . Ja m e s Denton, left, and Mrs. Ja c k Schm itt, members o f the A uxiliary to the N ashville D ental Society, place a poster in a d ep artm e n t store."
In addition, posters were placed in nu merous areas where, a survey had indi cated, the most persons would see them; spot announcements were given on the army hospital radio station, and two ar ticles on dental health appeared in the Fort Dix Post. At Redstone Arsenal, Ala., 14 bill boards with a dental health and safety theme were produced, through the co operation of the post safety officer, the post engineer artists branch and the post dental surgeon. T he illustrations were drawings, in a cartoon style. T he post dental surgeon reported: “ The result of the billboard displays were phenomenal. Comments were many, and patient load for examination increased. T he oral health of the four artists who made the billboards improved. They became excep tionally dental conscious.” Among the slogans used for the bill boards were: “ T ake care of your teeth; no one else will.” “ Defective tools make
defective teeth; keep both in good condi tion.” “ For appearance and health’s sake take care of your teeth.” “ Teeth for tools is the m ark of fools.” “Guards in place help keep teeth in face.” School bus posters drawn on different colored paper were posted in the 25 R ed stone Arsenal school buses starting Ja n u ary 15. The posters disappeared and had to be replaced frequently. T he explana tion? “ It was found that teen-agers were posting the signs in their rooms. This seemed better dissemination of informa tion than posting in the buses.” At Fort Benning, Ga., 14 dental officers who had volunteered to help in the dental health week program spoke to classes in the post schools. T he teachers had previ ously received outlines and charts and had prepared the children for the den tists’ visits to the classrooms. Each dentist gave a 15 minute talk, adapted to the children’s age level, and then, for a few minutes, encouraged the youngsters to ask questions. On February 11 the deputy post dental surgeon spoke to the PTA. His speech had three purposes: to recog nize the teachers and administrators who cooperated in the dental health week pro gram ; to stress the ideas the children had brought home from school, which, it is hoped, the parents are trying to apply, and to recognize publicly the assistance of the dentists who had worked on the program.
School children in Boise, Idaho, prep are their own poster fo r N atio n al C h ildren 's D ental H ealth W e ek .