• By Deborah Massenburg
• Posted Friday, February 5, 2016

February 5th is Give Kids a Smile Day!

Say, “cheese”! February is National Children’s Dental Health Month and the kick off for Give Kids a Smile. Among many community and school based activities to recognize the importance of children’s dental health, the Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) program is certainly one of the highlights. This nationally based Dental Society effort is supported by our local Forsyth County Dental Society and the Preventive Dental Health Program at the Forsyth County Department of Public Health. Participating dentists in Forsyth County agree to provide free comprehensive dental care for qualifying children. In 2014 -2015, fifteen dentists donated their time and reported $50,059.90 worth of free preventive and restorative dental services.

Our public health dental hygienists identify children in our public schools who have obvious dental problems, and whose families do not have the financial resources to obtain dental care on their own. During routine annual dental screening, children are referred to the dentist if obvious problems are noted. Our public health dental hygienists exhaust every effort to follow-up on every child referred. If parents indicate they need assistance securing dental treatment, the application process is initiated for the child. Without this program, the participating children would go without treatment.

Thanks to the Forsyth County Dental Society, hundreds of children have received free smiles over the past thirteen years through the GKAS program. Congratulations to a successful partnership serving the residents of Forsyth County. For more information about GKAS, please contact our office at 336-703-3204.