Page 28 - FIS World

Dr. Banach helps a student examining a patient.
On Dentists and Educators
A Grade 1 Field Trip to the Dentist
Aclass of first graders, rubber- gloved and at the ready, can barely contain their excitement as they cluster around dental chairs spread throughout the spacious, light- filled room in Dr. Banach’s beautiful clinic. Their wide grins, comically purple from the disclosure tablets they have just chewed to identify tooth brushing habits, show total agreement with the plan for the morning. In a moment, under careful supervision of Dr. Banach and his team, they will don surgical masks and explore each other’s mouths, taking turns being dentist, helper and patient.
Soon the room fills with purpose- ful chatter. As a cheerful assistant skill- fully guides a first grade “dentist” in using a dental mirror, a burst of laugh- ter erupts from another group: the first spurt from the spray nozzle has missed the “patient‘s” molars and gone up her nose instead. Making rounds, Dr. Banach offers professional tips: “Can you see these purple spots from the disclosure tablet right here, Dr. Theo? I think our patient needs to brush more carefully.“
While one class learns about dental hygiene, the other has disappeared
into the conference room to compare notes on healthy habits, discuss the sugar content of popular drinks, and find out what happens when sugar and bacteria meet on our teeth. After a fruit snack, the classes will switch places.
As field trips go, this one tops the charts in all imaginable categories. When we arrive at the clinic, Dr Banach and his entire team are there to greet us. Many hours of preparation must have preceded this seamlessly orches- trated morning, and yet the atmo- sphere is so cheerful and enthusiastic
26 FIS World February 2015