Visiting Exhibits at Discovery

Visiting Exhibits

MouthPower® - Discover the Power of a Healthy Smile
April 13 - July 15 2013

One hundred years ago in 1913, the profession of dental hygiene was created in the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 2013, the Connecticut Dental Hygienists’ Association, Inc. (CDHA) honors this centennial year with many events being held across the state. To learn about the history of dental hygiene, please view CDHA’s website http://cdha-rdh.com/home/historyofdentalhygiene.html.

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One of CDHA’s special events this year will feature the traveling exhibit, “MouthPower® ”, from the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore, Maryland, an affiliate of the SmithsonianInstitution. This unique exhibit will be showcased at The Discovery Museum and Planetarium from April 15 – July 15, 2013. The Official Grand Opening of the MouthPower® exhibit is Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 10 am. CDHA President, CDHA Centennial Chair and MouthPower® Chairs will host a short program (15-30 minutes) to welcome, give thanks and acknowledgement of sponsors, and a ribbon cutting. Plans are to have the exhibit "manned' all day that day from 10am - 5pm by RDHs in their centennial scrubs who will give the children goodie bags with a new toothbrush, toothpaste and floss.

MouthPower® is designed for children ages 5-8 (grades K-3) and is an interactive oral health education program that motivates young people to make healthy lifestyle choices.

The exhibit features Mouthie® the chatterbox mascot, who guides children through eight hands-on modular learning stations to discover the power of a healthy smile. Children can learn to brush their teeth on a larger-than-life mouth, play dental hygienist and dentist in a child-size dental chair and clinic coats, learn the dangers of tobacco, explore the parts of a tooth, and more at MouthPower®. Being a profession that was originally created to teach preventative oral health to school children, CDHA finds it appropriate to bring this enjoyable learning experience to the children of our state. Visit http://www.mouthpower.org/ for more information.

MouthPower® is the signature oral health program of the National Museum of Dentistry and the latest in a series of successful nationwide traveling exhibitions created to teach people around the country about the importance of good oral health to a healthy life.

The exhibition features:

Build a Tooth: Build a tooth by turning colorful overlay pages in a tooth-shaped book

Let’s Brush and Floss: Practice brushing and flossing on an oversized mouth with “king size” brush and floss.

Say No to Smoking: “Put out” the cigarettes to learn about the risks of smoking.

Tobacco = Tooth Trouble: Move a smile along a visual timeline to discover what tobacco use can do to a healthy mouth.

Start Your Food Adventure: Begin a lifetime of healthy eating with smart food choices from the new food pyramid.

Let’s Eat! Let’s Move!: Explore how portion size and exercise builds a healthy body.

Join the Dental Team: Don clinic coats, become members of the dental team (Doctor of Dental Medicine/Doctor of Dental Science, Patient/Client, Registered Dental Hygienist, and Certified Dental Assistant) in a child-size dental office complete with chair and x-rays.

Play the MouthPower® Game: Explore an interactive computer version of the exhibition.

This exhibition is made possible by a grant from Colgate-Palmolive.

Rainforest Explorer

View from the Canopy Bridge

Check out the Canopy Raft

Spotting a Frog

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The action-packed world of zip lines and tree-top aerial obstacle courses meet science face-to-face in this exciting, new exhibit at The Discovery Museum. This highly interactive exhibit invites visitors to see, touch—and, if they wish—actually climb on sample displays of zip lines and aerial obstacle courses, while at the same time learn about the scientific principles behind these structures, the natural sciences of the forest as well as what takes place in the human mind and body when people participate in climbing and zip line activities.
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Connecticut Inventions & Innovations
Main Floor

Industry has been critically important to the history of Bridgeport, the region and the State. Focusing on transportation, aeronautics and entertainment, the exhibit showcases the ingenuity and perseverance of those who achieved greatness while changing lives the world over. Celebrate Bridgeport’s Locomobile, the first American car to win a European race in 1908 and see Sikorsky’s first helicopter patent drawing (1931).
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Artist Rick Shaefer - Crows
2nd floor mezzanine

Click here to read Artist's Statement

The Discovery Museum and Planetarium

4450 Park Avenue, Bridgeport CT 06604 | 203-372-3521

Visiting Exhibits