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- Smiles Across Minnesota — Twin Cities
- Smiles Across Minnesota — Duluth
- Smiles Across Minnesota — Rochester
Children’s Dental Health Month
As part of Children's Dental Health Month, Delta Dental of Minnesota is launching a new awareness campaign to let Minnesotans know about how to protect their baby’s teeth from harm.
Read the first educational piece from this campaign, called "Does Your Child Have a Drinking Problem?"
February is Children’s Dental Health Month. Delta Dental annually celebrates this national health awareness month to teach the importance of oral health prevention. We do this through a variety of activities.
Free Children’s Dental Screenings
Each Tuesday in February
Mall of America
Toddler Tuesday’s (Sam Goody Rotunda)
10 a.m. - noon
In addition, the Tooth Fairy will distribute free children’s toothbrushes and tooth fairy pouches, and educational material for parents. Additional sponsors include: Children’s Dental Services, Oral Health America and Comcast.
Other Children’s Dental Health Month activities include classroom visits; weekly oral health columns, and numerous other media and news activities.
My Healthy Smile is a first-of-its-kind, interactive CD to teach children about good oral health and to ease anxiety of dental visits. Developed by Fraser, a leading Minnesota nonprofit organization that works with children and adults with special needs, and funded by Delta Dental of Minnesota, My Healthy Smile uses computerized social scripts to show children what to expect at dental visits.
Some of the topics covered in the scripts include having teeth cleaned, taking X-rays and getting fillings. The CD also includes social scripts about important oral health topics such as losing a tooth, brushing, getting braces and healthy eating. The CD also includes printable tip sheets and storyboards for parents and dental professionals.
My Healthy Smile is designed for children developmentally between the ages of 3 and 10. It is especially useful for children with autism or developmental disabilities and is appropriate for any child who has anxiety over visiting the dentist or who is new to the experience. Adults with developmental disabilities may also benefit from the CD.
Additional Information:
- Contains beginner, intermediate and advanced levels
- Compatible for PC and Mac computers
- Online demo available at www.fraser.org/products
- Available for purchase at www.fraser.org/products for $34.95 or by phone at
(612) 798-8349 - All proceeds from sales benefit Fraser programs for people with special needs
Serve a SmileSM Making a Healthy Difference Through Service
Youth Service Grant Program of Delta Dental of Minnesota
Serve a Smile is a grant program that combines health education and outreach with youth volunteerism in support of Youth Service America’s Semester of Service and Global Youth Service Day (GYSD). In its 6th year, Delta Dental has teamed up with the Minnesota Alliance with Youth and the Minnesota chapter of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) to encourage Minnesota youth to serve their community.
The following documents can only be viewed by using Acrobat® Reader® software, which can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.adobe.com.
Important Dates for Serve a Smile:
Projects that are part of Semester of Service and GYSD are eligible to apply and receive Serve a Smile funding.
January 19 Serve a Smile program announcement
Semester of Service begins
February 23 Grant applications due
March 6 Winners selected
March 11-16 Grant agreements mailed
March 16 - April 20 Press releases sent
April 24 - 26 Global Youth Service Day
May Serve a Smile Select Award - Winner Announcement
June 1 Serve a Smile evaluations due
Questions about Serve a Smile can be directed to Ann Rogers at arogers@deltadentalmn.org. 
Smiles Across Minnesota Coalition
Smiles Across Minnesota is a coalition of dedicated organizations and individuals committed to improving the oral health of Minnesota children. The Smiles Across Minnesota coalition will involve leadership and support from many Minnesota organizations. Delta Dental of Minnesota and Children’s Dental Services launched the Smiles Across Minnesota coalition in 2006, in conjunction with Oral Health America’s Smiles Across America program. Smiles Across Minnesota is one of the most successful coalitions of Oral Health America’s Smiles Across America program, which focuses on providing school-based dental care to low income and uninsured children.
Oral Health America is a national oral health advocacy organization whose mission is to increase public awareness of oral health's importance to total health. Oral Health America established the Smiles Across America program in 2004 to provide preventive dental care to uninsured children in school-based settings. Companies who support the national program include Oral Health America, 3M ESPE, Patterson Foundation, GC America, University Bank, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Sunstar Butler, Dentsply, and DNTLworks among others
“Tooth decay remains the number one unmet childhood disease in the country and Minnesota is no exception,” said Ann Johnson, co-chair of the Smiles Across Minnesota coalition and director of Community Affairs at Delta Dental of Minnesota. “I am pleased that several leading Minnesota organizations have agreed to join forces to help ensure that this preventable disease is met with education and resources Minnesotans can use to slow down the rate of decay. Collectively, I am confident we will continue to make some real progress on these critical issues that face Minnesota children.”
The Smiles Across Minnesota coalition will work toward the following primary objectives:
- Expanding care and preventing decay, though the promotion of good prevention activities such as sealant application, and
- Increasing public awareness, providing information and advice to individuals, community and government leaders, health professionals, parents, teachers, and the media.
Coalition partners agreed to offer the full backing of their collective experience, knowledge, and expertise in helping address these issues. The coalition is also reaching out to other organizations and companies interested in seeking solutions to children’s oral health care needs.
For more information on the coalition, email Ann Johnson at ajohnson@deltadentalmn.org.
Smiles Across Minnesota Advisory Committee
More information on Tooth Decay
Smiles Across Minnesota Coalition
A statewide, school and community based initiative addressing cost effective primary and secondary oral health prevention for all Minnesota children. The program utilizes local, community-based providers who are experienced in targeting care to children within school and community-based settings.
Goals
- Addresses oral health needs of children in practical, cost-effective ways, focusing on underserved and uninsured children.
- Leverages local and national resources to bring preventive care, such as fluoride and sealants, to children in school-based settings.
Vision
Together we can ensure that all Minnesota children have a healthy smile.
Mission
To promote oral health awareness and improve systems to deliver oral health care services to all Minnesota children.
Smiles Across Minnesota Sites
Currently, there are three Smiles Across Minnesota initiatives.
Smiles Across Minnesota — Twin Cities
In October 2005, Smiles Across America brought its national preventive dental care program to the Twin Cities, with a pilot program serving the Minneapolis and St. Paul Public Schools. Children’s Dental Services (CDS), a non-profit dental provider, with a three-decade long history of providing school based dental care, was selected to deliver dental services to eligible low-income children at several schools. In Spring 2006, CDS and Delta Dental of Minnesota agreed to co-chair a Smiles Across Minnesota Coalition, with a mission to expand the program and to promote the school-based model beyond the Twin Cities. With the infusion of both financial and significant administrative support by Delta Dental, the program has expanded to other metro schools. Greater Twin Cities United Way and 3M ESPE have also provided generous cash and in-kind program support.
To date, over 3,000 uninsured and underserved children have received critically needed sealants, cleanings and fluoride in the Twin Cities alone. This expansion of dental care has prevented dental caries in an estimated 1,200 children, resulting in health savings of over $100,000.
About Children’s Dental Services: CDS is an independent, non-profit agency that has provided dental services to children since 1919. CDS is the only Minnesota agency dedicated exclusively to providing oral health outreach, education, preventive and restorative treatment to children. During its history CDS pioneered two major concepts for making affordable dental care accessible to children: 1) CDS was the first dental program in the nation to provide on-site dental care to Head Start children; and 2) CDS provides full on-site mobile preventive and restorative care to children in schools and community based settings. CDS serves all children, from birth to age 21, regardless of the amount of their family income. CDS offers a sliding fee scale under which reduced-cost or free care is provided. CDS also offers emergency dental services and hospital-based care. CDS employs staff who speak a total of 15 different languages, making them well equipped to serve bilingual or multilingual families.
Smiles Across Minnesota — Duluth
In May 2007, Smiles Across Minnesota co-chairs met with Keith Dixon, Superintendent of the Duluth Public Schools, to discuss expansion of Smiles Across Minnesota preventive dental services to Duluth Schools. Children’s Dental Services was selected to enter into a contract with the Duluth Public Schools in October 2007, which paved the way for on-site preventive dental services to be introduced to all Duluth Public Schools by 2008. Key community partners, including Delta Dental of Minnesota, United Way of Greater Duluth, Generations Health Care Initiatives, Northland Foundation and St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services, stepped forward to provide critical financial support for the Smiles Across Minnesota-Duluth initiative. As a result of this innovative partnership a Duluth-based Registered Dental Hygienist and Dental Assistant will work directly with school health staff to make dental fluoride, sealants and cleanings available to eligible Duluth school children.
Smiles Across Minnesota — Rochester
In Fall 2007, Smiles Across Minnesota co-chairs met with Kristine Billman, Executive Director of Children’s Dental Health Services (CDHS) a non-profit dental provider in existence since 2005, to explore the possibility of using CDHS to expand Smiles Across Minnesota in the southeast region of Minnesota. The mission of CDHS is to reduce dental access barriers for children who live in poverty throughout southeastern Minnesota. With a grant from Delta Dental of Minnesota in support of a Smiles Across Minnesota expansion in southeastern Minnesota, CDHS is now able to expand their service population to include uninsured children.
About Children’s Dental Health Services: CDHS provides preventative dental services such as teeth cleaning, fluoride treatments, sealants, oral hygiene and nutritional education to children, parents and guardians. CDHS provides preventive dental services at schools, community centers like Head Start, and public health facilities throughout southeastern Minnesota (including Olmsted, Fillmore and Houston Counties, and the cities of Rochester, Austin and Winona). CDHS receives referrals from the Migrant Health Clinic in Rochester. CDHS also supports families in applying for public funded health programs and provides dental referrals for children needing restorative care.
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