More than 51 million school hours are lost each year due to dental-related illnesses. From lost productivity to pain, poor oral health is a serious problem.
In 2007, a preventable tooth infection spread to the brain of a 12 year old Maryland boy, causing his death. Tooth decay and gum disease can also have long-term consequences for overall health, including heart disease to low birth-weight babies.
The problem is widespread and growing, the Centers for Disease Control in 2007 reported an increase in cavities among children age 2-5. We can do more to eradicate tooth decay for all children.
"Forsyth started out by bringing dental care to children," says ForsythKids Program director Ellen Gould, "and then became more research-oriented as community health care centers opened up in the 1950s, offering more dental care options. But recently, it became increasingly clear that many families weren't bringing their kids to the dentist – either because of cost, distance, time away from school and work, or plain old fear. So we came up with a novel concept: Let's bring the dentist to the kids."
The ForsythKids Program offers free dental care to thousands of at-risk children right in their elementary schools. Twice a year, Forsyth dentists and hygienists provide enrollees with a dental exam, tooth cleaning, toothbrush, toothpaste, and preventive care.
"In a way," says Gould, "we returned to our roots – our original mission. We wanted to see how effective we could be by providing kids with all of the prevention that we've now identified as proven to work."
And the figures back up the research: Forsyth has found that one round of prevention, measured at six months, resulted in a significant reduction in new decay for both baby teeth and permanent teeth of 52% and 32% respectively. Three rounds of prevention reduced the incidence of new decay by at least 80%, and likely more.
"We are getting an amazing response from the schools, the nurses, and the communities," explains Gould. "Enrollment has doubled every year since we started the program. Cities and towns now contact us and express an interest in ForsythKids, and we try to go where we are wanted. Currently, the program is in place in more than a dozen Massachusetts schools, and we aim to replicate it in communities across the country."
One of the most important thing ForsythKids take away from the school visits is the knowledge that taking care of their teeth now will lead to a healthier life in the future.
"Some kids don't even realize that their teeth are in trouble until they see a Forsyth dentist in school," says Gould. "But once we expose them to dentistry and educate them about prevention, they become much more aware of their oral health and its relation to their overall health. And perhaps more important is the fact that they see it's not so bad going to the dentist. It's not as scary as they thought it would be. They see that their friends are okay doing it, and then they jump right up into the chair and laugh with the dentist."
ForsythKids is addressing the oral health needs of children today and significantly improving the next generation's overall health and well-being, through education, prevention, treatment – and with a friendly smile.
