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JUNEAU - The staff of the Juneau-Douglas City Museum is all smiles about their new exhibit, "MouthPower," which will open Friday, Feb. 5. The traveling exhibit comes to Juneau from the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore and coincides with National Children's Dental Health Month, which is observed during the month of February.

"MouthPower" is targeted to children ages five through eight and aims to help them "discover the power of a healthy smile." The exhibit teaches children about their teeth through a series of interactive stations, including a child-sized dental office and a larger-than-life mouth on which to practice brushing and flossing.

Addison Field, curator of collections for the museum, noted that the exhibit strays from the museum's usual topics of Juneau history and art, but he hopes that its uniqueness will bring in new audiences who haven't yet been through the museum's doors.

"So often, people think of museums as dusty old places that don't ever change," Field said. "You go see them once and you don't ever have to go see them again. But we try to change something every month. We've been trying to find an appropriate traveling exhibit from down south for a couple of years, so this is fun for us."

Museum director Jane Lindsey described the exhibit as "a good fit" at the City Museum.

"Although the exhibit is not on a Juneau history topic, it is an exhibit for Juneau children," Lindsey said. "Additionally, this exhibit offers parents and educators an indoor, fun interactive learning experience during our winter months for our children. MouthPower is a hands-on, interactive exhibit-a component we at the museum like to provide to welcome diverse audiences and offer a more varied museum visit."

To compliment MouthPower, a number of animal skulls will be exhibited in "Chompers," an additional exhibit that will present information about the teeth of Southeast animals. The skulls are being let to the museum by Doug Larsen, who collected many of the specimens during his years as an outdoorsman and wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

In conjunction with MouthPower, the museum will host a discussion with Dr. Nolan Davis, DDS, as part of its Coffee and Collections Series. The event will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 20 at the museum, where Davis will discuss a wide variety of topics related to dentistry, including his experience practicing dentistry in remote Alaskan communities.

Field acknowledged many community organizations that have partnered with the museum to cover the exhibit's rental and transportation costs.

"This would be absolutely untouchable for us without Southcentral Foundation and the support of Rasmuson," Field said.

In addition, the museum has received local support for the exhibit from the Gastineau Channel Historical Society, the Juneau Dental Society and K3 Public Radio.

"When we schedule and promote exhibits at the museum, we look for ways we can partner with new groups in our community," Lindsey said. "We believe that working this way helps us build new audiences and invite our existing audiences back."

MouthPower opens Feb. 5 and runs through April 24. An opening reception will be held from 4:30-7:30 p.m. on Feb. 5. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Free admission is provided by the Gastineau Channel Historical Society and by Robert and Michelle Storer.

Libby Sterling may be reached at libby.sterling@capweek.com.