Allegheny College Students Help Area Children Through Free Children’s Dental Health Fair

Feb. 9, 2015 — Students from Allegheny College’s Pre-Dental Society are teaming up with Meadville Medical Center to host a free Children’s Dental Health Fair for the community.

The fun, interactive fair for children ages 18 and under will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Lew Davies Community Building, 1034 Park Ave. It is being held as part of National Children’s Dental Health Awareness Month in February.

The fair will include a fluoride station, healthy food demonstrations, good hygiene techniques and community-based oral health resources, along with free games, prizes and giveaways.

“The goal is to provide a fun experience for the whole family while also giving children and adults techniques and resources they can use for a lifetime,” says Matt Zaborowski ’17, a global health major/biology minor from Bloomfield, N.Y. “We want to help the community understand how important oral health is. And at the same time, we hope to get a better idea of what some of the barriers to oral health are.”

“We love to partner with Allegheny College. The students bring such enthusiasm and creativity to all our efforts,” adds Denise Johnson, M.D., chief medical officer at Meadville Medical Center. “The college is well known for its community engagement, and we in Meadville and the Medical Center do benefit.”

The idea for the fair came out of data compiled from the Meadville Community Health Needs Assessment, which Allegheny students participated in alongside representatives from Meadville Medical Center. The goal of the assessment was to determine the health needs and their associated risk factors in the area served by the Medical Center. Among several findings, the first phase of the assessment found indicators that poor oral health among children may be underreported, and that oral health may be more problematic than the data show.

More information about the fair can be found at https://meadvillechildrensdentalhealthfair.wordpress.com/.