Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

W-M kids learn importance of dental hygiene

By IAN MINIELLY

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Wakefield - Crystal Suzik, from the Great Start Collaborative, visited the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School Wednesday to discuss dental care with grade school kids. February is "Dental Care Month," according to Suzik, and the collaborative received a grant and purchased 1,000 toothbrushes - of which she only has about 100 left.

"When you smile big, you smile big because you are happy," said Suzik to the assembled first grade children. Suzik implored the kids to, "Take good care of their teeth and do the extra steps necessary to keep their teeth healthy."

Suzik asked the kids, "After we have snacks, what do we do?" The assembled group yell in near unison, "Brush our teeth!" "And what three step process do we use to take care of our teeth?"

The kids slowly and with hesitation answered:

-"Teeth and time

-Floss

-Mouthwash and healthy snacks are apples and carrots."

The collaborative, according to Suzik, tries to give each kid a head start and also talks to families to discuss health care also. Primarily focusing on good brushing habits, nutrition, and why people need to take care of their teeth as many health related issues stem from poor tooth and gum health."

All that being said, when prompted during a question and answers about drinking water instead of soda for healthy habit formation, many of the kids expressed joyfully their dad only drinks pop. Or, their dad likes to drink 2-3 cokes per day and does not like water. Some of the children are watching their adult role models demonstrate improper tooth care, but Suzik informed the kids to not judge their family members over having a soda, each person has a choice to make when it comes to their teeth and it does not make the parents bad to have a soda.

 
 
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