Throughout the years of being a dental hygiene student, I had been exposed to different types of populations. Besides doing dental hygiene services in clinic, another role as a dental hygienist is to educate individuals depending on their oral health needs through health promotion. During my fourth year, I had the opportunity to educate nurses and care aids about the linkage between aspiration pneumonia and oral health in the geriatric population at Broadway Pentecostal Lodge.
We made a poster and brochure with information about what aspiration pneumonia was and how it links to oral health, and what the nurses and care aids can do to prevent this from happening to the elders in BPL.
Some of the nurses and care aids did not know that oral health is another causal factor that can lead to aspiration pneumonia, as one of the nurses were surprised how oral health can affect general health.
Me and my classmate with our poster & brochures! Credits: Emily Choi