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Our Foundation is offering its first Oral Health Education Initiative Grants to elementary schools in New Jersey Abbott school districts. Schools will use the grants to start oral health education programs for their third-grade classes.
Three schools, each from a separate district, will be chosen to receive a grant of up to $5,000 to fund the programs for the 2007-2008 school year.
To apply, each school must develop an oral health education program that includes 10 monthly activities. The program should help children understand:
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Why daily oral hygiene is important
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How to brush and floss
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The function of the dentist and hygienist
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How their food choices affect oral health
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The relationship between oral health and overall health.
Monthly activities can include such things as an oral health bulletin board, a field trip to a dentist's office and reading books about oral health.
"With dental decay one of the most common chronic infectious diseases among U.S. children, according to the CDC, it is unfortunate that New Jersey's educational curriculum does not include specific dental education guidelines past the second grade level," says Foundation Vice President Diane Belle. "Through Delta Dental's grant initiative, we hope to bring attention to the importance of comprehensive oral health education, and work with educators to instill good oral health habits early that children can take with them into adulthood."
According to the American Dental Association, tooth decay is increasingly a disease of children from low-and modest-income households. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that almost 50% of childhood tooth decay cases remain untreated. Untreated tooth decay can cause a child pain, dysfunction, to be underweight, or to have poor appearance. It can keep a child from succeeding in school and other aspects of life.
The good news is that through proper oral hygiene and nutrition, childhood tooth decay can be prevented.
The new school nutrition law requires most New Jersey schools to ban soda and junk foods, and teach better eating habits starting September 1. These new nutrition guidelines will not only aid in the fight against childhood obesity, but will also benefit children's oral health.
"Delta Dental welcomes the opportunity to further educate children, especially those who are underserved, about the importance of maintaining oral health and its close relationship to overall health and well being," says Belle.
The Delta Dental Oral Health Education Initiative Grant is open to all New Jersey Abbott elementary schools that include third grade. Delta Dental will accept applications until June 16, 2007. Grant recipients will be notified before July 31, 2007. For more information, contact Kimberly Elmore at (973) 944-4555.
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