PA Summer Special Olympics- Healthy Athletes: Special Smiles (Penn State University)
I alongside fellow Temple and Penn Dental students and faculty volunteered at the Pennsylvania Special Olympics “Healthy Smiles” from June 5-6, 2025 at Penn State University through the Pediatric Dental Club. The athletes had the opportunity to receive dental screenings and had the option of receiving fluoride varnish as well as a custom mouthguard. My duty as a rising D3 was to administer screenings, input exam information into the system, apply fluoride varnish, create athletic mouth guards, and help give oral hygiene education. It was a great opportunity to be exposed to a wide realm of patients who may not have any dental care. It was very interesting to put together everything I learned in the past two years when doing these screenings. It opened my eyes to a lot! Working with those who have intellectual and development disabilities was very beneficial to my career in the future.