63rd Year--Vol. 4
Northeast Mississippi Community College--Booneville, Miss.
May 1, 2012
Dental Hygiene offers teeth cleaning Staff photo by Kayla Carpenter
Open Wide
Freshmen dental hygiene students (from left) Erin Parrish of Corinth and Seirra Denmark of Southaven are just two students working on their dental hygienist degrees at Northeast. Northeast’s dental hygiene program offers free teeth cleaning services to students, faculty and staff in exchange for students gaining experience in the field. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call the dental hygiene office at 662-720-7208.
Free service helps cut down on dental cost By Kayla Carpenter Editor Northeast’s Dental Hygiene students understand the importance of getting one’s teeth cleaned and the financial toll it can take on someone. In order to help with this need and receive training during the process they offer a free teeth cleaning service to students, faculty, and staff. During a teeth cleaning procedure, which can last from three to four hours, the patient obtains all the same treatments and preventative treatments as they would at any dentist office. The dental hygiene students, along with the help of their professors, provide teeth cleaning, x-rays and cancer screenings. “We have a lot of students from around this area as well as out of state who take advantage of this free teeth cleaning,” said Dr. Nick Alexander who is the dental hygiene program director. “However, our students would like to see more students get involved,”
Students are not the only ones who profit from this free service, Northeast staff and faculty also make appointments and utilize this assistance. “We are glad to have the support of our staff as well as our administrators,” said Dr. Alexander. The clinic is open during the fall semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However during the spring semester they are opened Monday thru Thursday. The appointed time slots for a teeth cleaning is from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Or 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. “If someone has a class and has to leave in the middle of an appointment we can work with them so they can come back after class and finish,” said Dr. Alexander. While the teeth cleaning is only free for students, faculty, and staff they do offer it to outsiders for a charge of only $15. “We stay booked up, so we encourage everyone to go ahead and call as soon as possible,” Alexander said. “They can even go ahead and make an appointment for next fall.”
Top 5 Tips for dental care
1. Brush at least twice a day 2. Use fluoride toothpaste and rinse 3. Floss once a day 4. Come for six month checkups 5. Avoid sweets as much as one can
Women take aim with firearm safety By Brandy Webb, Staff Writer
Staff photo by Brandy Webb
Business Technology Instructor Pam Needham practices shooting a target while attending the firearm safety class that was offered by the Northeast Office of Continuing Education in late January.
“Stop or my mom will shoot...” Northeast’s Office of Continuing Education held a pair of gun safety courses for females during the 2012 spring semester. Northeast’s gun safety course was designed to help women become more knowledgeable, skilled and have the right attitude to handle a firearm safely. The first session started on January 23 in Holiday Hall on the Northeast Booneville campus and proceeded to meet for a second time on campus before heading to the Booneville Police Department gun range for hands-on training. Cost for the three-day course was $75. Women who participated in the course were asked to bring the handgun to the range that they would be using for protection. Most of the women’s gun of choice was the .38 revolver. Prentiss County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Derrick Hester served as instructor for the course. Hester is a certified T.C.T.I semi-automatic firearms instructor, a state of Mississippi certified instructor, and currently a training officer for the Prentiss County Sheriff’s office. “My father didn’t hide guns from me,” said Hester. “He brought me up to respect guns and what they can do.” Hester’s goal of teaching firearms safety was for women to feel comfortable in introducing a gun into their home and to
“My father didn’t hide guns from me. He brought me up to respect guns and what they can do.” Derrick Hester
Prentiss County Sheriff Investigator Gun Course Instructor
teach gun safety to their family. During the class women learned things ranging from the four cardinal rules of gun safety and the mental states in a stressful situation, to the basics of the laws surrounding carrying and using a firearm. Northeast instructor Pamela Needham was one of the women who took the class. “The instructor was very patient and very thorough in explaining the gun laws and giving safe instructions in the handling and use of our firearms,” said Needham.“It gave me much more self-confidence when handling my firearm.”