gifts in action:

Cranberry: Smile Guardians

In addition to resources to help safety-net dental clinics provide dental care to more children, America’s ToothFairy is committed to the prevention of dental disease. The first line of defense against tooth decay is education. That’s why we’re grateful for the support of Cranberry. Thanks to their generous donation, we distributed 50 oral health education kits to five of our nonprofit partners—enough to teach 1,250 kids and their caregivers how to keep their smiles healthy!

Each kit included:

• 25 toothbrushes
• 25 Healthy Life brochures with oral health tips for the whole family
• 25 My Healthy Mouth educational activity books for kids
• 25 Five Tips for Healthy Teeth bookmarks in English and Spanish
• 25 Mirror clings to remind kids to brush, floss, rinse and repeat every day!

The staff from Smiles for a Lifetime in Fairfax, South Carolina were excited to receive their kits.

“These kits are great!” their Operations Director, Georgia Famuliner told us. “We love having oral health information to share with our students. Toothbrushes are always a huge plus!”

Sadly, not all families can afford toothbrushes for their kids. Education about the seriousness of daily dental hygiene habits is especially important for these families. After receiving their kits, Crystal Yang from Community Dental Care in Maplewood, Minnesota told us, “Some families share that their children share toothbrushes, but we teach them the importance of not sharing germs, by not sharing toothbrushes.”

Other kit recipients included: Augusta Regional Dental Clinic in Fishersville, Virginia, Via Care Community Health Center in Los Angeles, California, and Children’s Dental Health Services in Rochester, Minnesota.

Tooth decay prevention is a crucial part of helping marginalized communities have equitable health outcomes! To find out how to become a Smile Guardian and sponsor education kits to help families in your community learn how to keep their smiles healthy, visit bit.ly/SmileGuardian.

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