1. 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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2. 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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3. 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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4. 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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5. 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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6. 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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7. 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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8. 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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9. 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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10. 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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11. 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
(1) 5% (1) 5%
(3) 15%
a
b
(15) 75% c
d
Question 1
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.
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12. 2. Do you rinse your mouth after meals?
a) All the time b) Frequently c) Sometimes d) Never
(2) 10%
(6) 30%
(4) 20%
a
b
(8) 40%
c
d
Question 2
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
(3) 15%
(9) 45% a
(8) 40% b
c
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).
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13. 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
7, 35% 6, 30%
2, 10% a
b
5, 25%
c
d
Question 4
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
7, 35%
13, 65%
a
b
Question 5
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.
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14. Do you change your toothbrush often (every three months)?
a) Yes b) No. If no, how often then
8, 40%
12, 60%
a
b
Question 6
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
2, 10%
4, 20%
4, 20%
3, 15%
1
7, 35% 2
3
4
Question 7
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.
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15. 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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16. 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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17. 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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18. 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 Introduction – Explain to the children and their teachers what this
minutes 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.
nd
2 30 Activity 1 – Present to the children the six steps to good oral healthcare
minutes and the consequences of not keeping their teeth clean.
3rd 30 Activity 2 – Learn and sing the song. Explain the song. Colouring and fill
minutes in the blanks.
4th 30 Lunch Break
minutes
5th 30 Post lunch brushing. Present the children with a toothbrush kit each.
minutes Show children how to brush properly and effectively.
6th 30 Quiz them to see if they know the proper methods to keep their teeth
minutes clean. Give out prizes.
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19. 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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20. 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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21. 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
Page | 21

22. Appendix A
Sample Questionnaire
Raffles Institution
Design for Change
Secondary 2
Research Education
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 
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23. 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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24. Appendix C
Transcript of Interview with Dr Chan Meng Yeong
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