New Healthy Smiles in Our Schools program for Miami-Dade County receives support

MIAMI, Florida--The DentaQuest Foundation has partnered with Health Foundation of South Florida, the Children's Trust, and two Miami community health centers to introduce the new Healthy Smiles in Our Schools program to public schools in Miami-Dade County.

The goal of Healthy Smiles in Our Schools is to increase the number of children who receive preventive and restorative dental care and to deliver these services in a practical and cost-effective way at school where the children spend most of their day.

The program will be operated in partnership with Health Connect in Our Schools, the health-care program operated by the Children's Trust in Miami Dade public schools.

The DentaQuest Foundation supports Healthy Smiles in Our Schools with two grants, each worth $50,000, awarded to Borinquen Health Care Center and to Community Health of South Florida, who will provide the dental services.
The grants will allow the two health centers to purchase portable dental equipment and supplies for this new at-school oral health program.

Health Foundation of South Florida provides $69,000 to fund the technical assistance needed to implement the program. This program will be piloted in 27 schools to improve the oral health of South Florida's children and is targeted at children who do not currently receive dental care.

Dental disease, also known as tooth decay, is the most common chronic childhood disease, five times more common than asthma. It is also preventable with proper care. Good oral health is an important part of a child's overall well being, especially as they and their teeth are developing.

The Healthy Smiles in Our Schools program will provide dental exams and treatment. These are crucial to identify risks and help prevent more serious problems from occurring such as tooth decay and gum disease.

Dentists can even identify early signs of other diseases such as diabetes and vitamin deficiencies during exams. Without regular prevention, measures like exams and sealants on molars, dental disease often goes untreated and can result in cavities, pain and infection. Untreated dental disease can interfere with a child's learning, speech, and eating, leading to poor nutrition and problems in school.

Healthy Smiles in Our Schools is the result of a partnership of leaders in health care and philanthropy. They include the two community health centers, Safety Net Solutions, a program of the DentaQuest Institute, which provides technical advisory services to the participating community health center dental staff as it launches Healthy Smiles in Our Schools, the DentaQuest Foundation and Health Foundation of South Florida, and the community sponsorship and support of the Children's Trust and DentaQuest's government dental benefits business.

For the participating health center dental programs, the school-based program is an opportunity to provide necessary preventive care to children in Miami-Dade County and to introduce their families to the health centers for ongoing, comprehensive health care.

These grants support the mission of the DentaQuest Foundation to strengthen community initiatives and strategies, to strengthen the dental care safety net, to increase access to care for vulnerable children, and ultimately, to improve oral health.

For more information, visit DentaQuest Institute.

To read more about DentaQuest Institute, go to DentaQuest Institute.

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