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Raffles Institution

Year 2 Research Education

Design for Change School Challenge 2011

Operation Pearly Whites

By

Team Leader: Russell Tan 2I

Team Members: Daniel Tan 2H

Remus Lai 2E

Zhang You Sheng 2F

Teacher Mentor: Mr David Han

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Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the following people for their contributions without

which this project would not have been a success:

Our teacher mentor Mr David Han for his help and guidance

Dr Chan Meng Yeong and Mdm Lily Lim for their valuable information and

input.

The 20 respondents to our survey questionnaire

Our parents who guided and supported us all the way

Anyone who has helped and supported us in one way or another

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Contents

Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 2

Introduction ................................................................................................................ 4

Why Design for Change? ............................................................................. 4

What is Operation Pearly Whites? ............................................................... 4

Why Operation Pearly Whites? .................................................................... 4

Preparation for Action Week ...................................................................................... 6

Work Allocation ............................................................................................ 6

Timeline of Tasks ......................................................................................... 6

Resource Management ................................................................................ 6

Background Research ................................................................................................ 7

Surveys ...................................................................................................... 11

Interviews ................................................................................................... 15

Action Plan ............................................................................................................... 18

Reflections ............................................................................................................... 20

Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 21

Appendix A ............................................................................................................... 22

Appendix B ............................................................................................................... 23

Appendix C ............................................................................................................... 24

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Introduction

The Design for Change (DFC) Challenge is an innovative program that aims to give

9-14 year old children an opportunity to express and put into action their own ideas

for a better world. The program encourages children to explore and identify aspects

in their immediate surroundings or elsewhere, which they like to make a difference to.

They then get directly involved in designing and leading change in their community.

In our Design for Change challenge, our group initiated the Operation Pearly Whites

challenge which aimed to spread the knowledge of good oral hygiene to two main

target groups, pre-primary children and the elderly.

Why Design for Change?

The Design for Change project was initially not chosen by us, it would be fitting to

say that it was fate that bestowed this opportunity for us to help the people around us

by giving us the chance to undertake the Design for Change Challenge for our

Research Education project. As we slowly learnt more about the project and its aim,

we soon developed a new found passion for it. After doing some research, we

realised that there were many people around us that were plagued by problems and

we felt that as ambassadors of the Design for Change Challenge, we had the

responsibility of solving some of the problems.

What is Operation Pearly Whites?

Operation Pearly Whites is a project idea conceived by our group in which we plan to

visit a minimum of three kindergartens and three nursing homes to educate both pre-

primary children and the elderly on good oral health care habits. During our visits, we

would also give out toothbrushes, toothpaste and mouthwash and a booklet to

further encourage the habit of practising good oral hygiene.

Why Operation Pearly Whites?

As we brainstormed through the problems which we feel that urgently need to be

solved, one problem stood out from the rest, and that was the problem of the elderly

having poor oral health. All four of us had realised that many senior citizens either

had incomplete and decaying sets of teeth or were already wearing dentures. This

signified that a large number of the elderly in Singapore were facing oral health

problems. Oral health problems usually stem from the lack of oral hygiene and care

which meant that a large number of the elderly were not equipped with proper oral

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health care knowledge and hence, neglected their oral health. Oral diseases and

problems could cause extreme discomfort and pain in the long run and would greatly

affect the quality of life for a person. In addition, making a set of dentures would also

cost a lot and would result in great inconvenience for him or her.

Hence, we decided to embark on a project to educate the elderly on proper oral

health care habits. In addition to this, we felt that targeting children of a young age

would also be beneficial as oral health care is not a one off thing, but rather a long

term process one would have to go through to ensure that he or she has a healthy

set of teeth throughout his lifetime and hence, educating younger children would

equip them with the knowledge of how to look after their teeth from a young age and

hopefully, having inculcated good oral health care habits from young, they practise

them throughout their adolescent and adult years and more and hence, allowing

them to have a healthy set of teeth throughout their lives, without having the problem

of an unhealthy set of teeth when they grow older.

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Preparation for Action Week

The Design For Change project involves an “Action Week” which is an intensive

seven-day period when we implement our ideas and put them into action. All our

previous efforts came down to these seven days.

Work Allocation

There was much work to be done before Action Week as seven days was just not

enough for us to do research, conduct interviews and surveys and then implement

our ideas. Hence those precious seven days were set aside just for implementation.

The allocation was like this, Daniel was in charge of conducting interviews with

people he knew to get an insight on how much young and old know about the

importance of oral health and care. Remus and You Sheng were in charge of the

survey portion and the newspaper reviews to find out about the current situation in

Singapore. Russell was in charge of drafting letters for various organizations and

teachers as well as contacting the various preschools and organizations which we

would have to work with during the Action Week.

Timeline of Tasks

As there are many tasks to do, we believe that it is important to have a timeline set

so that we can complete all the work in time and it is also a lot easier for

documenting our progress. First we started by gathering as many newspaper articles

that we could by searching through article searches provided by the school such as

Newsbank for the first month. Next, we aim to complete our interviews with an

elderly person with a history of oral diseases and an oral health care professional

and also surveys with twenty teenagers during the June holidays. Lastly, we aim to

create our products (lesson plans, activity booklet, tooth brush and tooth paste set

and brochures) by the start of August and conduct our Action Plan in the month of

September by contacting at least two kindergartens and one nursing home.

Resource Management

We had to acquire donations to fund the products, mainly printing of the activity

booklets and the toothbrush and toothpaste set. There was much effort required

especially because we had to juggle this with other projects as well as tests and

exams. Hence good time management was required.

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Background Research The young and old are notable victims of poor oral healthcare. In Singapore it is

quite a common sight to see teenagers having to “fill” their teeth and some needing

to extract decayed teeth at a young age. On the other hand, elderly are seen

wearing dentures or having incomplete or decaying sets of teeth. These are a few of

the problems the young and old face because they lack the proper knowledge of

good oral healthcare habits. To get a more in-depth understanding behind some of

these phenomena, we decided to conduct a considerable amount of background

research to better understand the issue at hand. Firstly, we conducted literature

reviews pertaining to various issues regarding oral health.

We divided the literature reviews into three sections:

Standard advice given by dentists to maintain healthy teeth

Consequences of poor oral hygiene

Current state of oral health in Singapore

Getting more information through articles, we thought it would allow us to better

understand the current situation of oral health care and at the same time, learn more

about the actual mechanics behind oral diseases and ways to prevent them

Next, to find out more about the current state of such problems, we have decided to

do a survey targeting teenagers aged 13-16 to get a gauge of the extent of oral

health care knowledge among teenagers and also how highly they rate the

importance of good oral hygiene. In addition, interviews on a dentist and an elderly

were also carried out. This was conducted not only to examine the current problems

among the elderly and also the effects of various oral diseases but also to get a

professional view on the topic.

In all, the various background research carried out was done to get a better

understanding of the current situation of oral health care in Singapore. It was also

done to gather information regarding oral health care and some of the common

diseases so as to improve the quality of our products (lessons, activity booklet and

brochures).

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Literature Reviews

Standard advice given by dentists to maintain healthy teeth

Articles:

a) Hoon, C. U. (2009, October 24). Take your teeth seriously . The Business Times, p. L15.,

b) Spitz, K. (2004, April 6). AS YOUR TEETH AGE - YEARS OF WEAR AND TEAR CATCH UP IN MIDDLE AGE. YOU CAN

HELP KEEP TEETH INTACT . The Akron Beacon Journal (OH) , p. 5.

c) How Often Should I Replace My Toothbrush?. (n.d.).Toothbrush Toothbrushes Replacement Heads Floss.

Retrieved September 4, 2011, from http://www.toothbrushexpress.com

d) Total Health and Fitness information and articles - Looking after your teeth. (n.d.). Total Health and Fitness

information and articles - diets, skincare, weightloss, health. Retrieved September 4, 2011, from

http://gogethealthynow.com/looking-after-your-teeth/

e) How to care for your teeth. (n.d.). Health & Fitness News | Articles | Blog Network| Hive Health Media. Retrieved

September 4, 2011, from http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/5-important-ways-care-for-teeth/

First and foremost, it is common knowledge that one should brush his/her teeth at

least twice daily- when you wake up and before sleep at night. According to Dr

Chung speaking to the business times, saliva flows down in the night, while bacteria

in the mouth continues to flourish overnight – so when you wake up in the morning

and take a drink of milk, or eat starches like toast, the teeth are subjected to an acid

attack.

Also, flossing of the teeth is important to remove bits and pieces of leftover food

stuck in between teeth. One is encouraged to visit the dentist once in 6 months or at

least every 12 months. Dentists say that when you have pain in the gums or teeth, it

would be too late to visit the dentist then. Food wise, one should eat fruits and

vegetables to maintain strong bones and abstain from sugary food, at the same time

exercise regularly.

Last but not least, the toothbrush is an integral part of maintain healthy teeth. Bristles

are often worn out after 3 months. By the time they look so, they are often worn

enough. When bristles wear out they lose their effectiveness to remove plague from

the teeth and are often breeding grounds for fungus, bacteria and germs. These

toothbrushes can damage gums. A new toothbrush is 30% more effective at

removing plague.

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Consequences of poor oral hygiene

Articles:

a) Hoon, C. U. (2009, October 24). Take your teeth seriously . The Business Times, p. L15.,

b) Spitz, K. (2004, April 6). AS YOUR TEETH AGE - YEARS OF WEAR AND TEAR CATCH UP IN MIDDLE AGE. YOU CAN

HELP KEEP TEETH INTACT . The Akron Beacon Journal (OH) , p. 5.

c) How Often Should I Replace My Toothbrush?. (n.d.).Toothbrush Toothbrushes Replacement Heads Floss.

Retrieved September 4, 2011, from http://www.toothbrushexpress.com

d) Total Health and Fitness information and articles - Looking after your teeth. (n.d.). Total Health and Fitness

information and articles - diets, skincare, weightloss, health. Retrieved September 4, 2011, from

http://gogethealthynow.com/looking-after-your-teeth/

e) How to care for your teeth. (n.d.). Health & Fitness News | Articles | Blog Network| Hive Health Media. Retrieved

September 4, 2011, from http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/5-important-ways-care-for-teeth/

Poor oral hygiene? Simple, you get toothache. This would be what parents and

dentist will tell one. The teeth may not seem important but the consequences of poor

oral hygiene might require one to rethink, if he should really neglect his teeth. Poor

oral hygiene will result in toothache, tooth decay which might require extraction of

teeth, gum diseases (bleeding of gums) and hepatitis C. Also, poor oral hygiene will

other diseases like heart diseases. Study shows that people who fail to brush their

teeth at least twice a day are putting themselves at risk of health diseases.

According to the researchers, the link between gum disease (periodontal disease)

and heart disease may not be obvious, but chronic inflammation is a hallmark of both

heart disease and gum disease. Inflammation in the body plays a major role in the

build-up of plaque in the arteries, which can lead to a heart attack.

In response to Today Newspaper, Dr Choy warned that bacteria in the mouth may

even cause heart attacks or stroke. When they enter the blood stream, the bacteria

may contribute to the formation of blood clots by attaching themselves to fatty

plaques in the blood vessels. Persistent bleeding gums may signal serious diseases

such as leukaemia or platelet disorders.The bad news doesn't end there. If your

gums are chronically inflamed, your body releases cytokines, which can disrupt

insulin function and lead to insulin resistance and then diabetes.

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Current state of oral health in Singapore

Article:

Survery suggests 85% of Singaporeans have suffered from gum disease | Dentistry news | Dental News | Cosmetic

Dentistry Guide. (n.d.).Cosmetic dentistry Guide | Cosmetic dentists in London UK. Retrieved September 4, 2011, from

http://www.cosmeticdentistryguide.co.uk/news/survery-suggests-85-of-singaporeans-have-suffered-from-gum-disease-

8884

From the articles that we have seen, the current state of oral health of Singaporeans

does not look good. A survey shows that more than 85% of Singaporeans above the

age of 20 has suffered from or is suffering from gum disease. Statistics prove that 18%

of Singaporeans do not brush their teeth twice a day and 65% of Singaporeans do

not visit a dentist at least twice a year. To add on to this, 43% of Singaporeans only

visit the dentist when they experience tooth pains.

These results are truly shocking and it may lead to dire consequences for the future

of Singapore and its people. The findings of the survey confirm that oral health is a

problem for many Singaporeans; however, many people are reluctant to get help.

Patrick Tseng, chief dental officer at the Singapore Health Ministry, said that the

majority of people were worried about going to the dentist and this attitude needs to

change; people need to be aware that dentists are there to help and that oral health

is very important.

If the eyes are the window to the soul, then dental experts will say that goes on in

your mouth is a reflection of your overall health. Having oral diseases can lead to

heart disorders, diabetes, stroke and many other diseases that affect the overall

well-being of our human body.

Morever, recent surveys show that many Singaporeans are not willing to date those

with bad breath or bad oral hygeine. This does not look good for Singapore, and if

Singaporeans do not change their bad oral habits soon, worse things are inevitable.

The state of your oral health, therefore, is a great deal more important than was once

thought, and maintenance and regular dental check-ups can save you from much

more than just a filling.

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Surveys Twenty surveys were given out to a small group of 20 students from a variety of

schools with ages ranging from 13-16 in the hope of having a better perspective of

the standard of oral health and oral health care knowledge among teenagers. This

piece of information was needed as we needed a gauge on the general standard of

oral health care in Singapore and also to understand some of the reasons behind the

absences of good oral health habits in order to create a better lesson plan and

activity booklet for the preschoolers. In addition, the survey also aimed to evaluate

the importance of good oral health in the students’ opinion.

(Please refer to Appendix A for a sample of the survey)

1. How frequently do you brush your teeth every day?

a) Once a day b) Twice a day c) Thrice a day or more d) Never/ Inconsistent

The first question is aimed to find out how frequently the students brush their teeth.

By doing this we can the relative oral hygiene standards of teenagers in Singapore.

We realised that 75% of the respondents brush their teeth only once a day which is

below the recommended number of times to maintain good dental health. Upon

asking them casually, many claim that they are usually too tired and lazy to brush

before they go to sleep.

(15) 75%

(3) 15%

(1) 5% (1) 5%

a

b

c

d

Question 1

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2. Do you rinse your mouth after meals?

a) All the time b) Frequently c) Sometimes d) Never

The second question is aimed to find out how many of the students rinse their

mouths after meals as that helps to clear the mouth of any unwanted dirt particles

and improves the overall cleanliness of the mouth in the long run. It also helps in

prevention of tooth decays and cavities. 70% of respondents seldom or don’t rinse

their mouths at all after meals which leads us to the conclusion that they are

unaware of the benefits of doing so or are just lazy to do so.

3. How long, on average, do you take to brush your teeth?

a) About thirty seconds or less b) About thirty seconds to a minute c) More than a

minute

The third question is aimed to find out how long someone spends each time he

brushes. This reflects the cleanliness of the teeth. It is appalling to see that 45% of

the respondents spend less than 30 seconds each time they brush. This is below the

ideal 50 seconds recommended from our interview with Dr Chan (refer to interviews

below).

(2) 10%

(4) 20%

(8) 40%

(6) 30%

Question 2

a

b

c

d

(9) 45%

(8) 40%

(3) 15%

a

b

c

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How frequently do you visit the dentist for checkups?

a) Never, only when you have a oral health problem b) Once in 6 months c) Once

in 12 months d) Once every two years

The fourth question is aimed to find out the number of times one visits the dentist

every year. The minimum number is one and the recommended number is 2.

However we realised that 60% of the respondents visit the dentist once every two

years or never at all. According to Dr Chan (refer to interviews), the recommended

number is twice or at least once a year.

Have you experienced any oral health problems?

a) Yes. If yes, please state what b) No

The fifth question is aimed to find out who has experienced oral health problems. Out

of the 13 who put a as their answer, 9 mentioned that they had experienced tooth

decay, 2 people mentioned that they had gum disease while 1 person mentioned

that he had suffered from bad breath when he was younger. This could be due to

poor oral health management since young.

6, 30%

2, 10%

5, 25%

7, 35%

Question 4

a

b

c

d

13, 65%

7, 35%

Question 5

a

b

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Do you change your toothbrush often (every three months)?

a) Yes b) No. If no, how often then

The sixth question is aimed to find out how many change their toothbrush regularly.

This is essential as toothbrush bristles get worn out overtime and are ineffective in

cleaning teeth resulting in more bacteria and more plague. Out of the 12 who

answered b, 8 mentioned that they only changed their toothbrush when they bristles

started to spoil, 2 mentioned that they change their toothbrush every half a year, 1

mentioned that he changed his when he felt like doing so while 1 mentioned that he

only changed his when his spoilt as he used an electric toothbrush.

On a scale of 1 to 5, rate the importance of oral hygiene to you

The seventh question is aimed to find out the importance of good oral health from a

teenager’s perspective. 20% of the respondents do not care about their oral health

while 35% of them are neutral about it. Only 10% of the respondents prioritise their

oral health. From the results of the survey, it is evident that teenagers do not take

care of their teeth, which is worrying. We think that the best way to solve this is to

educate children from a young age about the importance of oral healthcare.

8, 40%

12, 60%

Question 6

a

b

2, 10%

4, 20%

7, 35%

3, 15%

4, 20%

Question 7

1

2

3

4

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Interviews

Introduction

As part of our research in developing our lessons and informative brochures and

activity books, we decided to conduct two interviews to gain a more in-depth,

professional and personal views of two different people pertaining to two different

aspects of oral health care. Our first interviewee was a senior citizen who was a

grandmother of one of the group members. Lily Lim, aged 68 was chosen to be

interviewed as she has had a known history was of oral health problems and would

hence provide a firsthand account and description of the reasons behind and the

experience of her oral diseases. Our second interviewee was Dr Chan Meng Yeong,

a dentist working at Thong Hoe Dental Surgery Clinic. He was chosen as we felt that

he would be able to provide professional views on some of the issues and questions

pertaining to oral health care as he was a dentist by trade.

Interview analysis 1

The interview with Lily Lim was a largely fruitful one. Please refer to Appendix B.

Through the interview with her, we were able to answer the questions listed below:

What are some of the reasons behind poor oral health in old age?

What are some of the many problems caused by decayed teeth?

What are some of the inconveniences caused by poor oral health care?

In the interview with Mdm Lim, we found out that one of the main reasons behind her

poor oral health care was due to negligence on her part. When she was younger,

she had often neglected her teeth and did not rinse or brush her teeth frequently. In

addition, back in her childhood, teachers put little emphasis on oral health care and

hence, she did not fully understand the various methods to look after her teeth and

the importance to do so. From this, we concluded that our activity booklets and

lessons had to emphasize not only on the various methods to keep one’s teeth

healthy but also the importance of doing so, and hence, by doing so, would hopefully

lower the chances of the children neglecting their teeth.

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Next, in the interview with Mdm Lim, we also realised that there were many

problems and inconveniences caused by tooth decay. Mdm Lim mentioned that

decayed teeth caused a considerable amount of prolonged pain until she went to

extract the teeth, which not only caused her to experience excruciating pain but also

inconvenience as she had to visit the dentist repeatedly for follow ups. Next, she also

mentioned that tooth decay also caused her quite a lot of money as not only did she

had to fork out large amounts of money for her check up but also for her dentures

after she had extracted her teeth. This leaves us to conclude that oral diseases could

indeed bring about great amounts of suffering and pain and in addition, also great

inconvenience and financial burdens.

Interview analysis 2

In the interview with Dr Chan Meng Yeong, we managed to get a clearer and more

in-depth understanding of the various results of oral diseases and also some

important habits that one should adopt to ensure that he has a healthy set of teeth.

Please refer to Appendix C. In the interview, we managed to answer the few

questions below:

What are some important habits to ensure that one has good oral health?

How important are good oral health habits?

What are some of the problems tooth decay can cause?

In the interview, Dr Chan mentioned that tooth decay can cause severe pain and

swelling and if teeth are lost prematurely, chances are that the person would

experience decreased chewing efficiency, unsightly gaps, distorted speech patterns

and various misalignments which could greatly affect the quality of the person’s

everyday life. Next, he listed out a few good oral habits that one should practise to

ensure that he has a healthy set of teeth. Firstly, he recommends daily brushing

twice everyday in the morning and night to remove food particles and the build up of

plague that could cause tooth decay and also to cut down on sweets and sticky

foods as they could result in decay as the increased amount of sugar in the mouth

would stimulate the growth of bacteria which cause decay.

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Next, he also mentions that one should try to visit the dentist at least once a year or

twice a year if possible as a dentist would be able to examine and check the

condition of one’s gums and teeth to ensure that they are not diseased. In addition, a

dentist could also rectify any diseases if he finds them and also give advice on how

one should look after his teeth to keep them healthy.

Having picked up numerous tips on maintaining one’s oral health, we plan to include

these tips into our activity booklet, lessons and brochures to educate and raise the

awareness of good oral health habits and the effects of oral health diseases among

preschoolers and the elderly and hopefully, the knowledge would enable them to

keep their teeth healthy. In addition, from this interview, we realised the importance

of regular brushing and hence, we plan to include precise steps on how once should

brush their teeth into the lessons. Lastly, we also plan to include a toothbrush and

toothpaste set to encourage brushing among the preschoolers and elderly.

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Action Plan

Lesson Plan for Kindergarten Children

We will be at each kindergarten for around 3 hours. These 3 hours will be divided into six 30 minute

periods.

1st 30 minutes

Introduction – Explain to the children and their teachers what this project is about and what we aim to achieve by doing this project. Get to know each of the children and find out about their oral healthcare patterns.

2nd 30 minutes

Activity 1 – Present to the children the six steps to good oral healthcare and the consequences of not keeping their teeth clean.

3rd 30 minutes

Activity 2 – Learn and sing the song. Explain the song. Colouring and fill in the blanks.

4th 30 minutes

Lunch Break

5th 30 minutes

Post lunch brushing. Present the children with a toothbrush kit each. Show children how to brush properly and effectively.

6th 30 minutes

Quiz them to see if they know the proper methods to keep their teeth clean. Give out prizes.

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For the first part of Action Week, we designed a booklet for children 6 and younger

as well as a lesson plan to teach them how to keep their teeth in good shape. That

was a success. We intended to visit 3 Kindergartens and help to raise awareness

about the importance of good oral health. However despite all the planning and

contacting of the various schools, we were unable to carry out the plan due to time

constraints and CCA commitments. Furthermore, we changed topic halfway through

the project and we were left with one third of the original time given for the project

and our CCA season ended a day before submission date. This led to many

problems and there was hardly any time left. Hence, we were unable to complete the

second half of Action Week.

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Reflections Overall, we thought that the project was a great success. Not only did we do make a

change to help better the society of Singapore, we also gained many lessons and

learned alot about what is and the importance of oral hygeine. We definitely made a

change for the better. Throughout this project, we faced many challenges and

obstacles. At first, it was pretty hard to come up with an idea to better the society that

was able to be done without much funds that was new and fresh. The original

concept was that we would be providing dentures for the needy elderly who could

not afford it otherwise. However, we had to end up changing the topic due to the fact

that we did not receive and replies from companies that we seeked help from. We

were also unable to find any elderly that was willing to participate in our project. In

the end, the project was changed to teaching oral hygiene to the young and old. One

aspect that I felt could be better for our group was that we could have communicated

better and have more teamwork. There was miscommunication throughout the

process of completing the project, for example sometimes the deadlines for specific

parts of the project was mixed up and we ended up having to rush parts of our work.

We did not really work together or help each other as much as we could and we

ended up finsihing our own parts and being nonchalant about the others and their

progress. All in all, I think that we did quite a good job on the “Design For Change”

task project assigned to us, though we could have acheived slightly greater heights if

we had more cooperation.

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Bibliography

a) Hoon, C. U. (2009, October 24). Take your teeth seriously. The Business

Times, p. L15.,

b) Spitz, K. (2004, April 6). AS YOUR TEETH AGE - YEARS OF WEAR AND

TEAR CATCH UP IN MIDDLE AGE. YOU CAN HELP KEEP TEETH INTACT .

The Akron Beacon Journal (OH), p. 5.

c) How Often Should I Replace My Toothbrush?. (n.d.).Toothbrush

Toothbrushes Replacement Heads Floss. Retrieved September 4, 2011, from

http://www.toothbrushexpress.com

d) Total Health and Fitness information and articles - Looking after your teeth.

(n.d.). Total Health and Fitness information and articles - diets, skincare,

weightloss, health. Retrieved September 4, 2011, from

http://gogethealthynow.com/looking-after-your-teeth/

e) How to care for your teeth. (n.d.). Health & Fitness News | Articles | Blog

Network| Hive Health Media. Retrieved September 4, 2011, from

http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/5-important-ways-care-for-teeth/

f) Survey suggests 85% of Singaporeans have suffered from gum disease |

Dentistry news | Dental News | Cosmetic Dentistry Guide. (n.d.).Cosmetic

dentistry Guide | Cosmetic dentists in London UK. Retrieved September 4,

2011, from http://www.cosmeticdentistryguide.co.uk/news/survery-suggests-

85-of-singaporeans-have-suffered-from-gum-disease-8884

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Appendix A

Sample Questionnaire

We are a group of 4 students from Raffles Institution embarking on a project “Design for Change”.

Our project is entitled “Operation Pearly Whites” which aims to educate and improve oral

healthcare amongst the old and young. We would appreciate if you would take some time to answer

the following questions to let us know about your oral habits.

1. How frequent do you brush your teeth?

a) Once a day.

b) Twice a day(morning and before sleeping at night).

c) Thrice a day or more.

d) Not at all/ hardly brush my teeth.

2. Do you rinse you rinse your mouth after meals?

a) All the time

b) Frequently

c) Sometimes

d) Never

3. How long do you take to brush your teeth on average.

a) About 30 seconds or less

b) 30 seconds to one minute

c) One minute or more

4. How frequent do you visit the dentist for checkups?

a) Never

b) Once in 6 months

c) Once in 12 months

d) Once every 2 years

5. Have you experience any oral health problems (e.g. Tooth decay, gum bleeding, bad breath)

a) Yes. If yes, what are some of these problems _______________.

b) No.

6. Do you change your toothbrush often?

a) Yes. If yes, how often do you change them? ________________

b) No. If no, how often do you change your toothbrush

7. On a scale of 5, rate the importance of oral hygiene to you, with 5 being the most important.

1 2 3 4 5

Thank you for taking time to complete this survey. Your help is greatly appreciated and have a nice

day

Raffles Institution

Design for Change

Secondary 2

Research Education

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Appendix B

Transcript of interview with Lily Lim

Interview

Interviewer: Daniel Tan Relationship: Interviewer’s grandmother Time of interview: 9.26pm

Interviewee: Lily Lim (68) Date of interview: 5/6/2011

How would you describe the current state of your teeth?

My teeth are quite worn out. Quite a few of my teeth have been extracted because they have decayed.

Why do you think your teeth are in their current state?

When I was younger, we were not taught by our teachers and parents how to look after our teeth. We were

not told to rinse our mouth after eating or brushing our teeth before we went to bed. On some days, I was too

lazy to brush my teeth before I slept and I think that is the reason behind my decayed teeth.

Has your decayed teeth caused any problems for you?

Before I extracted my decayed teeth, they caused a lot of pain for me. The extraction itself was also very

painful. After I had my extraction, I had to get a pair of dentures fixed. I had to visit the dentist quite a few

times. The implantation of the dentures also cost a lot too, about one thousand dollars for the implantation

and the dentures. Dentures also do not feel like real teeth when I eat. I really regret not looking after my teeth

when I was young.

Would you like to convey any message out to the children and teens out there?

I would like to tell all the children and teens out there that they really should look after their teeth. Teeth are

very important, if they don’t look after their teeth when they are young, they will regret it when they grow

older as they will encounter a lot of problems.

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Appendix C

Transcript of Interview with Dr Chan Meng Yeong