MouthPower to be on display Oct. 6-25

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University School of Dentistry will celebrate National Dental Hygiene Month by hosting the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry’s MouthPower exhibit Oct. 6-25 at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center in Morgantown.

Children will be guided through eight hands-on learning stations to discover the power of a healthy smile and the importance of oral health in a healthy lifestyle. Designed for children ages five through eight, the exhibit includes: Build a Tooth, Let’s Brush and Floss, Say No to Smoking, Tobacco = Tooth Trouble, Start Your Food Adventure, Let’s Eat! Let’s Move!, Join the Dental Team and Play the Mouth Power game. Highlights of the exhibit include a larger-than-life mouth with king-size brush and floss and a child-size dental chair with clinic jackets and x-rays.

After visiting MouthPower, children will know how to brush and floss properly, the parts of a tooth, how to make healthy food choices, the dangers of tobacco use and the different people who make up the dental team. The activities in the exhibit meet the National Science Education Standards as well as the National Health Education Standards.

“We are thrilled to be able to bring such a fun and informative oral health exhibit to the children of West Virginia,” Louise Veselicky, D.D.S., interim dean of the WVU School of Dentistry, said. “The more we educate young children about good oral health, the better chance we have at improving the quality of life and health of West Virginians for generations to come.” 

The exhibit will open with a kick-off celebration at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at the WVU Health Sciences Center. Dr. Veselicky and Fred Butcher, Ph.D., vice president for planning and operations, will be the event’s featured speakers.

MouthPower will make two other stops in West Virginia before returning home to Baltimore. It will be at the Parkersburg Art Center in November and the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences of West Virginia in Charleston in December. The exhibit’s tour through the state is made possible by a grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

For more information on the National Museum of Dentistry, see www.dentalmuseum.org.

For more information on the WVU School of Dentistry, see www.hsc.wvu.edu/sod.