Food, bingo and oral health education brought senior citizens together at the Delta Enrichment Center on Tuesday, June 7, 2016.
Delta Dental of Michigan, the Michigan Office of Retirement Services, and the Tri-County Office on Aging partnered together to create "Serving Smiles to Seniors."
This program offers oral health education given by registered dental hygienists who are trained by the Wisdom Tooth curriculum, part of the Wisdom Tooth Project.
The Wisdom Tooth Project was created in 2014, by Oral Health America, to keep the aging population up-to-date on maintaining oral health and getting access to oral health care and services. To learn more about the Wisdom Tooth Project,visit their webpage.
Sandy Sutton, registered dental hygienist and member of the Michigan Dental Hygienist Association Public Health Council gave the presentation that covered proper tooth brushing, cavity prevention, denture care, flossing, implants and more.
Guests of the event were able to ask questions and participate in the discussion.
"Seniors as a whole do not get the attention that’s needed for their oral health," Sutton said. "It's very important for them to know that just because they're getting older, they don’t have to lose their teeth."
"Serving Smiles to Seniors" takes place in eight locations in mid-Michigan this April-August.
The next presentation will be Tuesday, June 28th at the Grand Ledge Senior Center. The complete schedule can be found here. These events are free and open to the public.
In addition to hosting "Serving Smiles to Seniors," Delta Dental is also giving $30,000 to Oral Health America to support the Wisdom Tooth Project in Michigan.
"It is very important for (seniors') health needs to be met, and unfortunately the mouth is one of the things that gets missed," Sutton said. "And we are just trying to educate people on properly taking care of that."
