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Bright Smiles  

Bright Smiles program scope is preventive oral health program for Dallas County children.

 

The Bright Smiles program educates kids on why we need to brush and how to do it properly.  Adult volunteers help the children properly brush before school.  Dallas County R1 schools also participate in the fluoride swishing program which is another contributor of the drop seen in tooth decay in our children.  Toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss are basics to good oral health.  There are many children that this program is the only preventive oral health they receive.  Many will tell you that they don’t have a toothbrush of their own at home.    Local oral health prevention programs have not been funded on a federal or state level in Missouri for many years. 

Dental problems are one of the major causes of absenteeism in our schools.  The Centers for Disease Control states that poor oral health can be directly linked to more than 51 million school hours are lost each year because of dental-related illness.