February 7, 2009--Las Cruces Sun News and Farmington Daily News--G. Jeff Golden--9-year-old Aisha Sanchez, of Aztec, was wearing a child-sized cardboard tooth with black and yellow plush bees sticking to it Friday during an educational portion of "Give Kids a Smile Day" at San Juan College. Other children brushed off the bugs, which represented sugar, with a two-foot toothbrush. The activity taught children the proper brushing technique, with emphasis on scrubbing both the fronts and backs of their teeth. Educating children about dental health only was a prelude to the main event. Local dentists and San Juan College dental hygiene students pro-vided 50 children, ages 5 to 12, with free dental care. Jessica Garza, Aisha's mother, couldn't remember receiving such in-depth hygiene instruction when she was younger. Aisha had visited a dentist before, but never for free. "This is pretty neat," Garza said, while watching her daughter in the sugar bug-infested tooth. The number of volunteers that turned out for the event matched the number of patients seen. Staff from 10 local dentist's offices and 24 college dental hygiene students donated their time to assist the economically disadvantaged children. For the most part, the youngsters didn't know what kind of work they'd need done until they were sitting in a dentist's chair. The volunteers took X-ray photographs and performed initial inspections to determine what to do with each child. "We'll be doing fillings, extractions, crowns, whatever they need done," said Dr. Gene Hilton, of Desert Hills Dental Group. "And almost all of them get a cleaning and fluoride treatment." A pair of local orthodontists also is providing two chosen children with a free pair of braces, and covering all the expenses of follow-up appointments. The children aren't the only ones who benefited from the event. It was a fun networking opportunity for the county dentists, Hilton said, and the college students get unique hands-on experience. The students usually work with one or two patients a day, but they served a full and frenzied office Friday. The volunteers worked straight from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., stopping only for a brief lunch provided by Subway. "This is like the only time for me that I get to work with kids, so this is a fun day out of the year," said Brittany Thatcher, a second-year dental hygiene student. Give Kids A Smile Day is a national event started by the American Dental Association in 2003. The local Northwest Dental District Society and the San Juan College Dental Hygiene program have participated since the program's inception. The San Juan United Way assisted with scheduling. In previous years, local volunteers have completed more than $50,000 worth of dental work in a single day. The outpouring of support makes the local event one of the most successful in New Mexico every year. "Everyone knows how expensive dental work is, so whenever you give back to the community, provide them with a service, especially for little kids, it's really important," said first-year dental hygiene student Jennifer Kirks.