Research Issue - Harvard School of Dental Medicine

harvarddentalbulletinWinter 2010–11Volume 70Number 3Community Health FocusOperation MouthguardStudents work to prevent injuries and educate young athletes.Operation Mouthguard (OM) is a community serviceproject that has been run by HSDM students since 2000.From its beginning, OM has worked to increase oral healthawareness in young athletes from low-income areas in GreaterBoston and provide them with custom-fitted mouthguards.According to the American Dental Association (ADA), therisk of damage to the mouth during sports activity is reduced60 times by the use of mouthguards, and more than 200,000sports-related oral injuries are prevented annually in theUnited States by use of sports mouthguards. Currently, theADA requires the use of mouthguards in football, ice hockey,field hockey, boxing, and lacrosse and recommends their usein 24 other sports activities. The custom-fitted mouthguardsthat OM provides are superior to the traditional boil-and-bite,or stock, mouthguards that are usually available at sportinggoodsstores. OM reaches out to underserved children in theBoston area who do not have access to custom-fitted mouthguardsby partnering with nonprofit organizations such as theBoys and Girls Clubs of Boston, the YMCA, and the MGHHealthcare Center. At each event, HSDM students take impressionsof the children’s mouths, then back at HSDM, studentvolunteers help pour models and finish preparing the mouthguardsin the Preclinical Learning Center.In addition to providing mouthguards, OM volunteers usetrivia questions and pictures to educate children about diseasesof the oral cavity, including caries, pulpitis, gingivitis, periodontitis,candidiasis, and oral herpes. The HSDM studentsdiscuss proper brushing and flossing habits, as wellas the effects of tobacco use, oral piercings, and bulimia.The dental students also promote dentistry as a professionand encourage children to consider dentistry as a careerchoice. Since May 2009, OM has served 105 children at fivedifferent locations.Senior Tutor Peggy Timothé, MPH ’02, PD ’05, has servedas faculty adviser to Operation Mouthguard since 2008;Edward Brown (DMSc 2013, prosthodontics) has beenacting director of the program since August 2010. In 2011,OM plans to continue working with the nonprofit organizationsand expand its reach into local schools in Bostonand Cambridge—as well as to athletes at HSDM andHarvard Medical School.HWenfei Wang (DMD 2012), left, creates an impression for ayoung student that will be used to produce a custom-fittedmouthguard.16