CSUSB College of Extended Learning presents Loma Linda University with a donation of toothbrushes as part of the college’s 50 Ways to Serve project at California State University, San Bernardino on Thursday, April 7, 2016.
On April 7, the Cal State University of San Bernardino (CSUSB) College of Extended Learning presented Loma Linda University (LLU) School of Dentistry Associate Professor Margie Arnett with over 100 toothbrushes to be distributed to local kindergarteners.
The toothbrushes were collected by the College of Extended Learning (CEL) to support a LLU School of Dentistry and Assistance League project that visits San Bernardino City Unified School District’s kindergarten classes to collect data on the students’ oral hygiene practices, teach oral hygiene and distribute dental kits. The donated toothbrushes will be included in the oral health kits to be distributed to over 4,000 kindergarteners next school year, Arnett said.
“I feel very positive about this. A lot of people are coming together in the community to help,” Arnett said, mentioning that the San Bernardino Chamber of Commerce has also held a toothbrush drive. “It’s wonderful to have volunteers who see the need and provide help and hope to students they don’t even meet.”
The CSUSB toothbrush drive was initiated by CSUSB student and CEL International Extension Programs Program Assistant Nicole Mendoza after hearing about the project’s findings when Arnett was a guest speaker in a research class.
According to Arnett, the first year of the study found that – of the 48 schools and over 4,000 first graders visited – nine percent of students had no toothbrush while 15 percent said they shared their toothbrush with another person and about 25 percent reported tooth pain.
The next year the study visited kindergartners and the numbers were worse: 10 percent without toothbrushes and 38 percent sharing.
Largely attributed to the area’s low socioeconomic status, the results have given Arnett a new goal to put a toothbrush in every kindergartner’s hands. By making classroom visits with the Assistance League of San Bernardino over 4,000 students are visited each year, September through May.
Arnett shared that she first thought of the study when speaking to an elementary class about oral hygiene and one of the students asked what color the toothbrush bristles should be. She learned the student shared their toothbrush and the bristles were brown. Arnett said this interaction led to more questions about how many other students were sharing toothbrushes or without brushes.
According to the Surgeon General tooth pain is a leading cause for student absenteeism, and Arnett would like to find out if attendance can be improved through educating students on oral hygiene and issuing toothbrushes.
“Oral health is so essential to people’s lives, to how you eat, talk and to your self esteem,” Arnett said.
“She already did a lot and I wanted to do something to get our own community involved,” Mendoza said about joining the cause.
The CSUSB toothbrush drive was also inspired by the university’s 50th Anniversary 50 Ways to Serve Campaign which calls for students and staff to perform 50 acts of community service in honor of the anniversary.
Mendoza said the drive received immediate and enthusiastic participation, and she would like to continue the toothbrush drive while expanding it to include the whole university.
