In celebration of National Children’s Dental Health Month, Kool Smiles is donating free dental health lesson plans and toothbrushes to teachers in preschools and pre-kindergarten through fifth grade classes in underserved communities nationwide. The US Surgeon General reports that tooth decay is the leading chronic disease among children, 5 times more prevalent than asthma, particularly affecting low-income, minority, and rural communities.
“Teachers are some of our most important allies in the fight against childhood tooth decay, so we are thrilled to see so many educators utilizing these free resources in their classrooms,” said Dale Mayfield, DMD, chief dental officer at Kool Smiles. “Dental health education—including teaching children about the importance of brushing, flossing, and healthy eating—can play a powerful role in reducing oral health disparities and shaping positive dental habits early in life.”
The Kool Smiles dental health lesson plans include age-appropriate activities to generate learning and discussion about the importance of good dental health in preschool, grades K-2, and grades 3-5. Coloring sheets, posters, and other engaging and downloadable resources also are available. Interested teachers can download the lesson plans and order free toothbrushes for their classrooms directly from the Kool Smiles website.
Since Kool Smiles launched this outreach program in March 2013, more than 6,000 lesson plans have been downloaded and 154,000 toothbrushes have been distributed. In 2016, Kool Smiles provided lesson plans to more than 2,000 educators and sent toothbrushes to 53,048 students in 2,075 classrooms. Its dental health lesson plan program is made possible with support from the Benevis Foundation.
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