While the Dugoni School’s dental clinics at the San Francisco campus are open and students and residents are providing care on site, their offsite community outreach is taking new forms as health fairs and other community events have shifted to virtual formats. Fortunately, Dugoni School students and faculty are finding creative new ways to provide oral health outreach to serve the needs of the Northern California community.

Recently, students from the Dental Hygiene Class of 2021 volunteered with the Delta Pacific component of the California Dental Hygienists’ Association to deliver screenings, fluoride and nutritional counseling to children and families in Modesto. They provided services to more than 30 people during a public drive-through event.

In August, leaders of the Dugoni School’s American Student Dental Association chapter organized a virtual dental health education event for kids. During the online event, Dugoni School students provided oral hygiene education to more than 57 elementary school children and their families through Zoom.

Students from the Dugoni School’s Student Community Outreach for Public Education (SCOPE) program also recently took part in the 25 ^th annual Chinatown Community Health Fair. This year SCOPE volunteers and faculty provided virtual support for members of the Chinatown community, including facilitating an online workshop on children’s oral health with an opportunity to “Ask the Doctor.” These oral health prevention virtual presentations were followed by a Q & A session. 

SCOPE volunteers collaborated with Sonrisas Dental Health Clinics in San Mateo, providing Cantonese translation for its online oral health Zoom presentations. They conducted several practice sessions, which made for an entertaining, interactive and bilingual outreach program for parents, caregivers and children. 

“The Chinatown Health Fair has always been a great opportunity for Dugoni School students to promote oral health and give back to the community. Despite the pandemic restrictions, we are honored to provide interactive oral health prevention tips in Cantonese,” said Denise Ng, DDS 2022, who serves as SCOPE’s Chinatown projects coordinator. “We cherished collaborating with a dedicated team that produced our first-ever virtual event to bring oral health awareness to the next generation!”

For more information on SCOPE, visit dental.pacific.edu/dental/SCOPE.