Name That Smile!

CHP Oral Health Promotion Director Kathy Lituri recently lead two teams of volunteers to outreach events geared toward college students. The first was the BU Be Well Fair on April 6 and the second was the Wellness Fair at Roxbury Community College (RCC) on April 7. Mahesh Sadhnani DMD 12 volunteered at both events and introduced a new interactive game designed to engage college students called Celebrity Smiles.

Said Sadhnani, “Ms. Lituri and I met and discussed how we could have informative activities that would enable us to dissipate oral hygiene awareness while at the same time being interactive within the college students’ age group. The result was Celebrity Smiles, which is a game where we have just the smiles of popular celebrities displayed and ask participants to identify a celebrity based on their smile. The idea is to reiterate that a person’s smile is vital to their personality. Taking care of one’s teeth (and hence a healthy smile) is essential to a person’s identity.”

Sadhnani continued, “The celebrities were chosen from various walks of life and included areas such as music, sports, and politics. We gave out a toothbrush to every person who identified at least three celebrities.”

Lituri added, “Celebrity Smiles was Mahesh’s brainchild and it has become really popular! Everyone likes it and it crosses all language and ethnic boundaries. Mahesh’s background in public health, paired with the work experience he gained before arriving at GSDM for dental school, makes him a real asset to CHP and the School’s outreach efforts. He has tons of great ideas!”

Additional volunteers at the BU Be Well Fair included Lucinda Barry DMD 12, Neelam Shah DMD 14, and BU pre-dental students and CHP interns Sebastian Mendoza and Michelle Prieto. Additional volunteers at the RCC Wellness Fair included Brittney Barrows DMD 14, Lindzy Goodman DMD 14, Kinna Shah DMD 12, Sheede Khalil DMD 12, Lillelenny Santana DMD 12, and Myrna Zohni DMD 12.