While some soldiers have been practising how to sneak up on the enemy, others have been helping children win a battle of another kind. 

Nearly 500 New Zealand Army and Australian Army Reserve personnel camped near Gore last week for 10 days of  field training during Exercise Tauwharenīkau.

However, Royal New Zealand Dental Corps reservists dental hygienist warrant officer class 1 Denise Mariu and dental assistant Staff Sergeant Delwyn Roberts visited Lumsden, Riversdale and Waikaia schools to teach students about caring for their teeth.

WO1 Mariu said part of her and Staff Sgt Roberts’ role was to treat soldiers at the dental units set up at the camp and also to engage with the community.

Part of the objective of Tauwharenīkau was to “build up the trust and the goodwill with the local towns that are hosting the exercise”.

“So, it was a little bit of giving back to the community.”

As well as using models of teeth and a large toothbrush to show children how to brush their teeth, the pair talked about the sugar content of food.

They read to the children the sugar content on the labels of items including cans of drink and snacks and asked them to guess how much sugar that was.

They then measured out the amount of sugar for the children to see.

The children also helped set up an overnight temporary shelter and explored the contents of a soldier’s ration pack.

“We related that back to maintaining good hygiene with the soldiers in the field as well as their oral hygiene.

“The kids really enjoyed that.”

A Riversdale senior management team member said the students enjoyed “an action packed morning” with the defence force staff.

Acting Lumsden principal Judi McMillan said the students and teachers enjoyed the experience.

In particular they found it “really fascinating looking at the sugar content” of food.