A new partnership between the International Federation of Dental Hygienists (IFDH) and the National Children’s Oral Health Foundation (NCOHF) was established with the goal of promoting positive oral-health habits and raising awareness of how to prevent oral-disease to children who are most at risk.
Pediatric dental disease affects between 60-90 percent of school-aged kids worldwide, yet is one of the most preventable childhood diseases.
The two organizations, with the help of dental hygienists, will work to educate the public through America’s Tooth Fairy programs. Among these are the America’s Tooth Fairy Kid’s Club in which kids receive a personalized letter from the Tooth Fairy and can participate in online educational activities.
The ongoing initiatives will broaden the duties of dental hygienists by making them prevention specialists and educators. The International Federation of Dental Hygienists president, Dr. JoAnn Gurenlian believes that the new partnership will be an asset to families and says “We are proud to work alongside America’s Tooth Fairy.”
The IFDH has a network of 77,000+ dental hygienists throughout 28 countries and will work to expand the efforts of America’s Tooth Fairy educational programs throughout the world.
ToothFairy 101 Community Education Kits will be used to help promote the programs. Dental hygienist Mindy Levine recently traveled to Uganda to teach oral education to its poorer villages. “The children were excited to see a toothbrush and learn what it is used for,” she said. She added that many families use sticks or nothing at all for their oral care.
Dental hygienists also joined together during National Children’s Dental Health Month in February and collected oral-care items to donate to children at risk for oral-disease as part of community outreach programs promoted by America’s Tooth Fairy.
America’s Tooth Fairy believes that dental hygienists are an important part of leaving no child behind when it comes to teaching good oral health habits.