For the sixth year, the Give Kids a Smile (GKAS) Day in March, 2008, sponsored by the department with the Student Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Student Dental Association, was a very successful event where teams of faculty and students provided fluoride treatments, cleanings, radiographs, restorations, extractions, and sealants to 75 uninsured children; providing approximately $8,000 worth of dental care.  With the help of dental hygiene students from the School of Dental Medicine, the volunteers provided oral health education for the children in a series of seven stations.  After a brief instruction about how teeth are used and an interactive discussion about what a dentist does, children were guided through stations to learn about plaque, radiographs, tooth loss, brushing, nutrition and fluoride.  The children received a gift at the end of each station for participation in the program.

Approximately 50 high school juniors from a seven-county area visited the department and the School of Dental Medicine as part of the Southwest Pennsylvania’s Association for Health Education Consortium’s (AHEC) week-long summer program on introduction to health careers.  Faculty, staff, and volunteers from the Student Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry gave a presentation on dentistry as a career choice, did sealants on typodont teeth, and toured the simulation clinic.  Each participant received dental supplies and career information.  Dr. Joseph Ambrosino, University of Pittsburgh dental alumnus, is the executive director of AHEC.