Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Public Health

Department

Health Science and Human Ecology

First Reader/Committee Chair

Olney, Amber (MPH)

Abstract

National Children's Dental Health Month (NCDHM) was created by the American Dental Association and is celebrated annually by local oral health programs all around the country. The celebration began as a one-day event on February 8, 1949, expanded to a week-long observance in 1955, and was later extended to a month-long celebration in 1981. Today local oral health programs celebrate NCDHM in a variety of ways but the one I will be focusing on is a social media tool kit. A social media tool kit consists of videos or posts that are posted on different platforms such as the www.smilesbc.org website, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok. I will focus on how social media serves as an effective tool for health education and promotion, particularly in the area of oral health. Given the impact of the pandemic, social media has become an essential tool for connecting with community members and delivering health education. In this discussion, I will compare past social media tool kits and explore what other local oral health programs are doing to promote National Children's Dental Health Month (NCDHM). To highlight how digital platforms can be used to engage and educate the public on oral health.

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