In 2007, Delta Dental Plans Association and the National Head Start Association joined together to fight a growing epidemic of poor oral health among our nation’s youngest citizens.

Created in 1965, Head Start is the most successful, longest-running, national school readiness program in the United States. It provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. Nearly 25 million pre-school aged children have benefited from Head Start.

The alliance between Delta Dental Plans Association and the National Head Start Association provides the national Head Start organization with additional tools and resources to improve the oral health status of children in the Head Start program, including oral health education and, in various parts of the country, screening and preventive care.

“With the right tools, cavities and other oral health problems are almost entirely preventable, yet millions of children continue suffering needlessly from the physical and social burdens of poor oral health,” said Kim Volk, president and CEO of Delta Dental Plans Association. “The National Head Start Association already understands the value of oral health and together we can reach large numbers of children at a critical time in their development.”

To learn more about the National Head Start Association, please visit their website at http://www.nhsa.org/.

So what is Delta Dental doing to help?

The 10,000 Smiles Project

Delta Dental recently launched the 10,000 Smiles Project, a unique website where users can upload smiling photos of themselves. Once 10,000 smiling photos are added to the site, Delta Dental plans to donate $10,000 to the National Head Start Association.

Oral Health Education

As the dental benefits experts, we have a lot of information to share. One way that we hope to help Head Start is to educate Head Start teachers and parents about the importance of good oral health.

Since our partnership formed in 2007, we have attended Head Start events for both parents and teachers. At each event, we staff a Delta Dental booth with people who distribute information and literature about the importance of taking care of children’s oral health. Additionally, Delta Dental sponsors parents and teachers by paying for their attendance fees, with the understanding that they will take the information that they learn at the conference back to their local Head Start centers. Delta Dental staff members also teach educational sessions at Head Start events in order to present as much relevant children’s oral health information as possible.

Oral Health Curriculum

Washington Dental Service, a member of the Delta Dental Plans Association, created the Cavity Free Kids program for both preschool-aged-children, and infants and toddlers. The program is a comprehensive curriculum to teach preventive oral health lessons to children, as well as to their parents and siblings. It includes the following features: lots of developmentally appropriate activities; flexibility to individualize for variety in classrooms and families; materials in English, Spanish, Russian, Cambodian, Chinese, Somali, and Vietnamese; and easy and clearly outlined lessons using common supplies. Attendees at the national Head Start Training Conference were trained on how to use this fun and educational curriculum with their Head Start students.

For more information on the WDS Cavity Free Kids program, please visit http://cavityfreekids.org/.