{"id":545,"date":"2024-05-03T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/?p=545"},"modified":"2024-11-14T15:57:22","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T13:57:22","slug":"grt-i-melusi-brings-mega-watt-smiles-to-world-oral-health-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/grt-i-melusi-brings-mega-watt-smiles-to-world-oral-health-day\/","title":{"rendered":"GRT-I Melusi Brings Mega-Watt Smiles to World Oral Health Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"651\" height=\"554\" src=\"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picture3May.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-546\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picture3May.jpg 651w, https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picture3May-300x255.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 651px) 100vw, 651px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Screening in progress<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Melusi, Pretoria &#8211; When World Oral Health Day came around on March 20th, the GRT-I Melusi team rallied their community for a truly smile-worthy celebration! Joining forces with the University of Pretoria&#8217;s Department of Community Dentistry, they rolled out the red carpet for 219 beaming cr\u00e8che kids in Melusi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fun kicked off on March 13th at the Melusi Holistic Primary Health Centre, where GRT-I&#8217;s local champions worked tirelessly behind the scenes. From securing the perfect screening venues to wrangling sponsors, no detail was too small for this dedicated crew. &#8220;Our SAPRIN branding and deep roots here allowed us to really energize everyone,&#8221; beamed GRT-I&#8217;s Themba Masango. Vibrant banners and gazebos broadcast the big day, creating an air of excitement. As the little grins started arriving, they were ushered into the full V.I.P. experience &#8211; a FREE dental screening and smorgasbord of oral health edutainment led by UP&#8217;s dentists. Each child got their own goody bag brimming with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, snacks, and water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We wanted to make this a total celebration while driving home the importance of developing great brushing habits early,&#8221; explained lead dentist Dr Jessica Mokoena. &#8220;It&#8217;s not easy motivating kids, but we had them grinning from ear-to-ear!&#8221;. For those few who required further dental treatment, referrals were issued to local clinics. But the vast majority left feeling empowered with tools for a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums. The university&#8217;s budding dentists also got an invaluable first taste of community outreach. &#8220;Seeing the impact, we can have, inspires us to take our skills to underserved areas,&#8221; a student remarked. They&#8217;ll document the experience in portfolios. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the World Oral Health Day party wrapped up, GRT-I was already looking ahead &#8211; committed to following up with families to ensure any needed treatments happen seamlessly. &#8220;Moments like these are what unite a community,&#8221; Masango said. &#8220;And we&#8217;re just getting started bringing bigger, brighter smiles to Melusi!&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Melusi, Pretoria &#8211; When World Oral Health Day came around on March 20th, the GRT-I Melusi team rallied their community for a truly smile-worthy celebration! Joining forces with the University of Pretoria&#8217;s Department of Community Dentistry, they rolled out the red carpet for 219 beaming cr\u00e8che kids in Melusi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":546,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-engagement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":559,"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions\/559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grt.ac.za\/inspired\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}