Student Community Service Program:

Dental students have the opportunity to learn, through providing community service, the most important aspect of the Student Community Service Program: how to help their patients improve their oral health and how to become an active member of the community when they have their own practices. This service activity helps foster civic responsibility in addition to helping meet the needs of a community. The service can be completed in several ways: working with children in shelters or day care; giving blood; working with Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts; Health Fairs; volunteering at the hospitals or nursing homes; providing dental health education programs in schools or participating in church sponsored programs. The intent of this activity is to assist students in identifying and meeting health & social needs of the community.

West Virginia Rural Health Education Partnerships (WVRHEP) Program:

Rural dental faculty provide clinical guidance for dental and dental hygiene students and serve on multidisplinary faculty/student teams. Students live within the community, working and socializing with the members in hopes of achieving a new level of responsiveness to the needs of the residents of the community. Dental and dental hygiene students returning from the WVRHEP sites have reported the experience to be very beneficial and rewarding. In addition to WVU dental hygiene students, hygiene students from West Virginia University Institute of Technology participate in a one week rotation and the hygiene students from West Liberty State College may elect to participate in a three week rotation. Additional information about this program is available on our Rural Health Web Page.

Morgantown HealthRight:

This is a volunteer program to help provide care for those West Virginians who are not eligible for Medicaid, have no health insurance and yet cannot pay for their own care. There is a cooperative effort between faculty, students, staff and local dentists in the Morgantown area.

Health Fairs:

Each year Health Fairs are held at Morgantown Mall, Mountaineer Mall, the Towers Student Housing, and numerous sites throughout Morgantown. The displays are staffed by dental & dental hygiene students, School of Dentistry staff and faculty. Throughout the year, there are mini-health fairs presented by various schools, health departments etc. throughout West Virginia in which the School of Dentistry often participates.

"Through With Chew":

A smokeless tobacco education project. The objective of this program is to enlighten and educate West Virginians to the health hazards associated with smokeless tobacco and the influence it has on children. The activities are coordinated with local dentists, physicians, coaches, teachers and others who are actively involved with children. The "Through with Chew" program distributed an informational fact sheet that was inserted in newspapers throughout the state. The insert was a wake up call for West Virginians about the dangers of smokeless tobacco.

Bright Smiles, Bright Futures:

Coordination of the oral health education program with the support of Colgate Palmolive. This program is designed to assist the West Virginia Public School teachers in Head Start, 1st grade and 3rd grade teach good oral health using games, video, coloring books, teaching manuals and audio tapes. Learn more about this program at the World Wide Web: http://www.colgatebsbf.com

"Oral Care for the Dependent Patient":

An educational video being used by nursing facilities across America as a valuable addition to staff development and as an aid in helping develop a plan of daily mouth care and infection control for the dependent patient. The program provides the structure for an excellent dental in-service for care givers. The video is available for $53.50. Please contact the Department of Dental Practice & Rural Health, PO Box 9415, Morgantown, WV 26506-9415, (304) 293-5912 for more information..

Oral Health Awareness Program for Parents:

This program is targeted to communities with the worst dental problems. The purpose is to increase interest and utilization of dental services. This program is available throughout West Virginia when students are on rural assignments with the West Virginia Rural Health Education Program.

Coalition for a Tobacco-Free West Virginia:

Consultant for the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free West Virginia smokeless tobacco outreach program.

National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP):

NSTEP is an initiative of Oral Health America. The mission is to educate about and prevent the use of spit tobacco by kids and adults. Through a partnership with Major League Baseball and others a program has been established that will have a lasting affect on the baseball community and is reducing the use of spit tobacco. Currently in a partnership with the Princeton Devil Rays, Bluefield Oriels, WV Power. To learn more about NSTEP, contact Oral Health America at (312) 836-9900 or visit their web site at http://www.nstep.org