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Sealed with Smiles DaySchool
Sealant Program
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Thirty-five low-income students from Lincoln Elementary School participated in the fourth "Sealed with Smiles Day", sponsored by the Redwood Empire Dental Society, The Alliance of REDS, Redwood Dental Hygiene Society and St. Joseph Health Foundation. A large contingency of volunteers coming from the dental community, SRJC Dental Assisting & Dental Hygiene programs, and Elsie Allen and Montgomery High Schools helped these children gain access to preventive dental care.
Local Dentists & staff VolunteerVolunteer dentists came to Lincoln and initially screened over two hundred children in September of last year. They were assessed for all types of dental needs and the results were sent home to their parents. The first group of 40 students were seen at "Sealed with Smiles Day" in October. This event in February brings a total of 75 students receiving dental sealants from Lincoln Elementary.
Prevention can be Fun!The children were treated to face painting by some creative volunteers from Montgomery High School. St. Joseph's provided oral hygiene instruction and appropriate dental health information to parents while they waited. Any child that had restorative needs was given appointments at St. Joseph's to further treatment. This is the last "Sealed with Smiles Day" project, as we know it. It has been a very rewarding and fulfilling experience, but the best is yet to come. It will be replaced with a school-based sealant project. The school-based program is modeled after numerous programs throughout the country and will be more affective in treating a large number of students. This new project will be administered by St. Joseph's Health Foundation and will be manned by volunteers within the dental community. As we close this project, REDS and The Alliance of REDS can feel a great accomplishment in knowing that over 400 hundred school-age children had a dental screening, and over 170 of these children received dental sealants. We are hopeful that these children will be free of dental disease from the care that they received.
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