Part one: WHAT I NEEDED TO KNOW
There wasn’t much I knew about oral hygiene until after I started my mentorship with Dr. Thornton. To me it was just brush my teeth, floss (which was done very rarely), and continuing on with my day. In addition to my regular morning activities, I always knew a regular 6 month dental exam was awaiting me. But it was until my mentorship began that I realized my mouth was far more essential to my overall health than I thought. Going to the dental office every day and noticing how many patients needed a cavity to be filled or maybe a crown, made me think about how much I really didn’t know about the mouth. This is how I came up with my essential question, how does keeping my mouth clean produce a healthier lifestyle? I had to find the answer, and so my research began.
Part two: WHAT I ALREADY KNEW
As stated before, I knew how important it was to brush your teeth twice a day, floss, and get your regular dental exams. I knew that if you ate too much sugar then you would increase your chances of getting cavities, and of course increase the amount of tooth decay. I knew that if you smoked cigarettes, and chewed tobacco, then the chances of getting gum diseases/cancer increased as well. So again, for a fact keeping your mouth clean was something I knew, but what i didn't know was that keeping your mouth clean produced an overall healthier lifestyle.
Part three: RESEARCH
To begin my research, I conducted what is known as both primary and secondary research. I first started my research quest by going online, and searching for scholarly articles to find information on the practice of good oral hygiene and the effect of a healthier lifestyle. I went onto search engines like "Galileo" to fine both credible and useful sources for my research. My first step was to find sources that I knew could help me develop my overall focus of this research study. In this case, I wanted to specifically look at diseases that can be caused through bad oral hygiene. With the help of the sources I collected I was able to find that diseases such as, complications of diabetes, obesity, respiratory infections, heart diseases, and even strokes could all be caused by bad oral hygiene. One of my most useful sources which was the one spoken about in annotated bibliography 3, even went on to say how "Harvard researchers found a history of periodontal disease increased pancreatic cancer risk."
As well as secondary research, I conducted my own primary research, through the form of an interview. (Click here for interview) The reason I decided to do in interview was because I was able to gather qualitative data from my mentor Dr. Thornton. I knew that I had to talk about the complications that arose from practicing bad oral hygiene, but I needed research to show how to prevent those diseases. Here are a list of things Dr. Thornton recommended to ensure that someone was practicing good oral hygiene.
With the help of the secondary research and primary research, I was able to develop a well rounded understanding on the importance of good oral hygiene and all of the postivie benefits that came through it.
As well as secondary research, I conducted my own primary research, through the form of an interview. (Click here for interview) The reason I decided to do in interview was because I was able to gather qualitative data from my mentor Dr. Thornton. I knew that I had to talk about the complications that arose from practicing bad oral hygiene, but I needed research to show how to prevent those diseases. Here are a list of things Dr. Thornton recommended to ensure that someone was practicing good oral hygiene.
- Brushing your teeth
- Flossing
- Regular Dental Exams
- Proper Diet
With the help of the secondary research and primary research, I was able to develop a well rounded understanding on the importance of good oral hygiene and all of the postivie benefits that came through it.
Part four: DISCOVERY
I strangely discovered way more research than I had anticipated. First off, I knew that it was important to brush your teeth, and to floss, but I didn't know that those things alone could prevent something like pancreatic cancer! So I was dumbfounded, by the research I collected, I felt as if every time I read one of my articles I discovered something knew. Now my initial assumptions for my essential question was that keeping your mouth clean sure did leave an overall healthier lifestyle were in fact true. Now I may have not known quite as much as I did until after my research, but because of the research I collected I was able to back up my initial assumption. With the research conducted, I would wish to spread this information along to everyone I can to inform them, how important it really is too keep a bright and healthy smile on their faces all the time.