The K1 and K2 Classes at Kiddiewinkie Place went to school on November 4 with a sense of anticipation….. they were going to visit the dentist that morning ! Most 5 and 6-year olds may not find a trip to the dental clinic something to be excited about – but that could be due to the fact that visits to the dentist are associated with tooth aches or other dental problems.

As part of our community outreach program to children to educate them about the benefits of healthy teeth and to make a dental visit a pleasant one, Specialist Dental Group hosted about 60 children and teachers from the school. This was the second such event for our clinic, after the success of the Nanyang Kindergarten visit in October.

Dr. Ansgar Cheng and Dr Helena Lee spoke to the children about the importance of brushing their teeth well so that the naughty bacteria would not have a party on leftover food in their mouths or make holes in their teeth.  They also showed proper brushing techniques and had some of the children try out their tooth brushing skills on the tooth model.  

The children were introduced to “mama straw” and “baby straw”, who were very thirsty indeed, and they had a chance to see how quickly these two straws could drink the water in the cup.

They also had a chance to feel the ticklish polishing brush, which could not only polish their teeth to make them sparkle, but also buff their nails… needless to say, the little girls were delighted !

Our staff and dentists also enjoyed interacting with the children who were very responsive to questions from our team. Specially made glove balloons were awarded to those who could answer a pop quiz on oral care.

Many thanks to Lion Corporation for generously sponsoring Kodomo toothbrushes and toothpaste for the children as well as a colouring sheet of the Kodomo lion. Systema toothbrushes and toothpastes were also provided for the teachers. We appreciate your support.

We also received a lovely thank-you card from the kids and teachers at Kiddiewinkie Place. It was a pleasure having them over. We hope everyone had a positive experience from their visit to the dentist.

About 180 children, parents and teachers from the Nanyang Kindergarten made a field trip to visit Specialist Dental Group last week. This was a first for our clinic and our dental team/clinical staff were excited to host the children. To ensure that everyone was able to fit into the clinic, the children visited us over a two-day period in different groups.

We saw this event as a wonderful opportunity to introduce  the children to the dental clinic and the dental team/staff in a positive manner. We wanted the Nanyang children to have good memories of the experience, so that subsequent trips to the dentist would be seen as a routine event, and not something to be feared.

The children were able to have a ride in the “magic chair” while dressed up in a blue bib and cool sunglasses.  Our friendly staff explained what each instrument was used for and they had an opportunity to help count each other’s teeth.

They also felt the spray from the triple syringe and experienced the blue light that is used for hardening fillings and learned that the drill (although a little noisy), did not hurt – in fact, it was rather ticklish…

Dentists from our team also showed them how to brush properly and some of the children volunteered to brush the teeth on our demonstration model and they eagerly raised their hands to answer our dental quiz. The little prizes were specially made and decorated glove balloons !

We want to thank Madam Cheng, Vice Principal of Nanyang Kindergarten for helping to organize this field trip, and also to Kodomo for their sponsorship of the event.

We hope the children had as great a time as we had fun planning the event ….