Latest news with #GiveKidsaSmile
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
LECOM offering free dental services to local children Saturday
LECOM Dental School is asking children to bring their smiles to a clinic this weekend. On Saturday, April 12, LECOM dental students are hosting their Give Kids a Smile event, inviting children aged 2-17 for a free dental screening. Lake Erie Arboretum to host open house in celebration of spring Walk-ins will be taken on a first come, first serve basis, but pre-registration is preferred. If you would like to sign up for a dental screening, you can email gkaserie@ or call (814) 868-1046. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
16-02-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
IUN students get a chance to provide free dental services for kids
Ayana Brooks got the best lesson in how small the world can be peering into the mouth of a patient. Brooks, a senior dental hygiene student at Indiana University Northwest, was performing a comprehensive cleaning on 11-year-old Adriene Flowers during the school's Give Kids a Smile event Saturday morning when the talk turned to a dental office across the street. Brooks went there as a child and remembered her hygienist, a woman named Alice. 'Alice? That's my grandma,' Adriene, of Gary, said, referring to Alice Harvey. 'Really? I loved her,' Brooks said, amazed. 'She was one of the people who inspired me to go into dentistry.' A partnership with the American Dental Association to celebrate Children's Dental Health Month, Give Kids a Smile provides local children ages 5 through 12 who don't have dental insurance a comprehensive dental cleaning complete with x-rays, cleaning and fluoride treatments, Clinical Care Coordinator Dana Darman said. It's a national event, with dental schools all around the country helping, and it's free-of-charge for the patients, she said. The program's benefits are twofold: Not only do kids who might not have the opportunity to get regular dental checkups get a thorough treatment overseen by a dentist, but the dental hygiene students get hours toward their clinicals. 'We're a preventative clinic, so we refer issues out to other dentists,' Darman said. 'Our students, who have to get so many hours with children, adolescents and seniors, do the assessments on patients, and then the dentist instructor checks their work and comes up with a maintenance plan with them.' Brooks, of Merrillville, was convinced to go into dental hygiene by her own dentist. 'I come from a family of seven kids, and we came to this school for years (for cleanings),' she said. 'I was getting fillings done at my dentist — I was 16 — and she said, 'I think we need more Black women in healthcare.' After that, she let me shadow her a few times, and I was hooked.' Coming from such a large family, Brooks said she really appreciates programs like Give Kids a Smile as well as IUN's own program, which offers preventative dentistry services at a discounted price. Without it, she can't imagine what her teeth might be like. 'It's personal for me because you have to start kids young on their dental health; just because something looks Ok doesn't mean it is,' she said. 'You might not be able to afford braces, but you can keep your teeth healthy. It's something you can't neglect.' Angi Gonsiorowski, of Hobart, has been a dental assistant for 13 years and is just about finished with her dental hygiene degree. She waited for her kids to grow up before she went back for her degree, she said. 'The biggest thing I learned was how the mouth affects the body in so many ways,' Gonsiorowski said. 'Blood runs through your body, and it runs through your gums, so if you're not getting your teeth cleaned, all that bacteria runs through your body. That's why it's so important to get your teeth cleaned and brush and floss.' Arcella Harvey, Adreine's mom, brought all four of her kids to the event. It was her first time, but she's now a big fan. 'It's a great resource for people who don't have insurance. To have this access is a great benefit,' Harvey said. 'It's also great for the students because they get to see things that maybe they haven't seen before. One of my kids has braces, and the hygienist was like, 'Oh, you have to do it this way.'' The Give Kids a Smile program, which will have a second day February 22, is filled, but residents interested in the IUN Dental School's services should log on to
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Monongalia County Health Department hosts ‘Give Kids a Smile' Day
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — Friday was 'Give Kids a Smile' Day in Monongalia County, and throughout the day the health department held appointments for children without dental insurance. 'Give Kids a Smile' is an initiative by The American Dental Association on the first Friday in February every year. The ADA says cavities are the most common chronic disease of childhood in the United States, and that children with poor oral health miss school more often and have lower grades. Doddridge County Elementary Students sell sweet treats to learn about money The Monongalia Health Department saw about 20 children over the course of the day, doing cleanings, fillings, fluoride treatments and x-rays . Dr. Youseph Kassar, Program Manager at MCHD Dentistry, told 12 News that it is important to instill the value of oral hygiene at a young age, and that events like today help children, who might not go to the dentist often, feel more comfortable. 'The earlier a patient or child can come to see us, the more comfortable they become with us, so they if see us for cleanings which are a little bit less stressful, it's a lot easier to get them to work with us and have some fun instead of they're coming with dental pain and that's their first experience with us,' Kassar said. The Monongalia Health Department also typically offers free check ups to uninsured adults the day before Thanksgiving as well as for veterans on Veterans Day. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
ECU School of Dentistry hosts program to help ‘Give Kids a Smile'
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — The ECU School of Dental Medicine and the East Central Dental Society partnered to host 'Give Kids a Smile' at the ECU Brody School of Dental Medicine. The program has been around for 20 years but this is the first time it was held at the dental school. Children were able to receive care like x-rays, cleanings, fillings and extractions depending on the results of a pre-screening. 'To have the opportunity to give back is huge. I think it's important, especially in this profession. We know there's a need. We know it clearly exists in the community. We all see it. And eastern North Carolina should be thankful that we have events like this going on and that people are willing to put in the effort to give back.' said Ruby Oxendine, Pediatric Dentist with Eastern Orthodontic Pediatric Dentistry. Not only did the volunteers help give back but they also helped the kids learn the proper way to take care of their smile. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
