Service Learning: Bringing Awareness to Interventions Needed within the Aging Community

Abstract

Using service-learning activities in a dental hygiene program allows students to experience oral health promotion within a local, community setting. The students provide nonsurgical periodontal treatment to a variety of populations, including elderly individuals with limited access to these services. The School of Dentistry’s dental hygienist program at Virginia Commonwealth University utilizes service-learning activities to allow students to expand their clinical experience. Working off-campus under direct supervision of a dentist, students complete needed oral healthcare services. During my senior year in the dental hygiene program, I had an opportunity to participate in a service-learning activity that profoundly highlighted poor oral health conditions within the elderly population.