Give Kids a Smile Day teaches good dental hygiene

TOOTHY GRIN— Kindergarten student Alcatraz Esquivel is enjoying Give Kids a Smile Day at Sumac Elementary School. Timed to coincide with National Children’s Dental Health month, the program is presented by Charles Stewart and the Aetna staff and focuses on the importance of good dental care. PATRICK SHELBY Acorn Newspapers In an effort to teach children how to properly care for their teeth and gums, Sumac Elementary School in Agoura Hills recently partnered with Aetna Life and persented the National Give Kids a Smile Day.

Charles Stewart, the dental director for Aetna Insurance, and his team of professionals presented a slide and puppet show that emphasized how to properly brush and floss teeth at three school assemblies last Friday.

According to the American Dental Association, the program is a national initiative “to focus attention on the epidemic of untreated oral disease among disadvantaged children.”

Although Sumac students are not disadvantaged, Principal Karen Hansen believed that the program would encourage students to take better care of their teeth.

The program is conducted each February in elementary schools throughout the nation. The event provides free oral health education, screening and treatment services to children from low income families.

Sumac students received free toothbrushes and toothpaste after a puppet show that emphasized the importance of proper dental hygiene. The puppet show demonstrated that what children eat is as important as how often they brush and floss their teeth.

Stewart explained how plaque grows on teeth and got his message across to the students by defining plaque as “bugs” on their teeth. He recommended that the children brush their teeth twice a day, and sometimes more if they eat a sugary snack or drink a lot of soda.

Stewart also said students should substitute sugary snacks with more wholesome fare, such as pretzels, popcorn, peanut butter, vegetables and fruit.

“Plaque is very hard and difficult to get off,” Stewart said. “Plaque is bugs . . . it’s important to get the bugs off.” He said that once plaque combines with sugar, it causes cavities. Children were stunned to hear that fast food cheeseburgers are also full of sugar, primarily in the buns. “. . . they have more sugar than a snicker’s bar,” Stewart said.

“I liked it a lot,” third-grader Dakota Read said of the assembly. “You should floss your teeth every day and eat healthy foods.”

In 2005, nearly 40,000 dental professionals and volunteers provided free dental services to more than 500,000 children from low-income families across the country through the program.

For more information about dental care, please visit the American Dental Association website at www.ada.org.

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