Cooperating with the NYMU Oral Hygiene Social Service Team

This year, our team decided to cooperate with the NYMU Oral Hygiene Social Service Team. The social service team is a voluntary group of our school. They visit elementary schools in rural areas to teach children facts about oral hygiene and offer free oral checkups. After several discussions, their team leader agreed to help us hand out questionnaires to villagers and children in I-Lan county during summer vacation.

The population in those villages are mostly the elderly and young children because adults have to go out and earn bread for the family. Children in rural areas have more serious cavities due to the lack of oral health care resources. According to the team leader of NYMU Oral Hygiene Social Service Team, some of the towns in Taiwan even have no dental clinics!

The result of questionnaires showed that the majority of the residents do not have correct concepts of maintaining their oral health. Besides, some children are reluctant to go to the dentist even though suffering from pain due to fear for the driller. As for the elderly, brushing their teeth and walking a long way to a dental clinic is quite inconvenient. Moreover, grand parenting is commonly seen in rural areas of Taiwan, making it harder for the elderly to have regular oral checks.

All above, we learned that an easy method to access oral hygiene is needed in rural areas. Thus, HOPE could bring a great help in these places.