OHA and NASBHC

CHICAGO, Illinois—Oral Health America’s Smiles Across America Product Donation Project has announced a new partnership with the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.

To read more about OHA, go to OHA.

OHA’s Product Donation Program will donate 5,000 units of fluoride varnish to 20 school-based health centers across the country. Recently, NASBHC was awarded a grant from Kaiser Permanente to fund technical and financial assistance to school-based health centers to incorporate oral health promotion, assessment, and preventative practices within well-child visits.

“We are so pleased to be able to support this effort with the donation of Vella 5% Sodium Fluoride Varnish with Xylitol from Preventech” said Beth Truett, president & CEO, Oral Health America. “It’s exciting to be able to promote mouth health as a routine part of school health care.”

Funding for the grant is a result of Kaiser Permanete’s employee wellness program, Healthy Workforce. The organization contributed $50 for each employee who took an online health risk assessment. Almost 23,000 Kaiser Permanente employees participated in the program, which raised $1.2 overall.

“One of the most pressing, unmet health needs of children and adolescents that SBHCs seek to address is oral health,” said Linda Juszczak, executive director of NASBHC. “We’re excited to offer technical assistance and training to such a diverse group of SBHCs so that they can address these difficult challenges and keep students healthy and learning.”

Grantees will be trained on how to administer fluoride varnish that is being donated by Oral Health America in partnership with Preventech. Preventech will also provide training materials to more than 40 health-care professionals who will learn how to apply the varnish June 26, 2011, at the NASBHC annual conference in Chicago.

“We believe in early detection, preventive dental care and that good oral health allows for good overall health,” said Al King, president & CEO, Preventech. “That is why we have partnered with Oral Health America’s Product Donation Program. We are proud to support OHA’s work around the country and the work of the National Assembly of School-Based Health Centers.”

Oral Health America’s mission is to change lives by connecting communities with resources to increase access to oral health care, education, and advocacy for Americans, especially those most vulnerable.

For more information, visit www.oralhealthamerica.org.

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