DNA swabs and dental impressions sounds more like stuff from television shows like CSI, but in this case it relates to what SCC Dental Assisting students do when they are teaching youngsters about dental hygiene.
Dental school chairperson Crystal Sthur said, “Students are required to do at least 30 hours of community service,” otherwise referred to as Share Program hours.
Part of those hours includes assisting with the Child Identification Program, or CHIPs for short.
In this case, students assist the Rotary Club of Lincoln to identify children by swabbing their mouths for DNA and taking dental impressions as well as video documentation of the child.
According to Dental Assisting Program graduate Andy Darnell, “It’s about raising awareness (about dental hygiene)…especially with kids.”
Sthur says, it is important to “key in on daycare centers and third grade classes (about) oral hygiene care.”