Toothaches are one of the leading reasons children miss school or fall behind academically. That’s why hundreds of dentists came together on Feb. 6 for the 24th annual “Give Kids A Smile Day,” offering free dental exams and referrals to 1,500 underserved children between ages six to eight at the Cradle of Aviation Museum.
The event included fluoride treatments, sealants, and hygiene education at no cost. The program is produced by the Nassau County Dental Society and supported by Henry Schein Cares and the Dejana Foundation.
“These children are underserved, some of them don’t get to the dentist and they miss school because of pain,” said Joseph Brofsky, co-chair of the Smile Day program and section head of pediatric dentistry at Northwell Health, who taook part in the event.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children enrolled in Medicaid do not receive dental services throughout the year. And one third of children experience cavities.
While keeping up with health expenses is challenging, Cigna Healthcare states, without insurance, the cost to fill a cavity can start at $160 – debating on the filling material. However, there are other payment options like dental programs that may help families cover the costs.
“If we can find kids in need of dentists and get them the follow up care and teach them how to brush, we could save a lot of missed days of school and make kids healthier,” Brofsky said.
Some schools across Nassau County treated the event as a field trip, which can sometimes he expensive, the pediatric dentist explained. That’s why he believes this was a great opportunity noting that this might be the only trip they get a year. Yet, he needed to keep the program engaging without kids losing interest or being scared.
Throughout the atrium, lively mascots of Bluey from the television series, a Farmland cow and even tooth fairies filled the room to make kids feel comfortable as they walked in. Each student also got to take home milk and an apple for healthy eating.
“I go around schools and ask kids what they like — they love movies and puppets,” Brofsky said. “And when I go to schools and talk to kids, they don’t want to listen to me. The puppets are a big help in teaching good oral hygiene.”
Three students from the Farmingdale College of Dental Hygiene — Tyler Ascatigno, Rene Herrera and Desiree Grimaldi — were of the many who volunteered to present a puppet show as part of the day’s programming.
Ascatigno, performing as Bruce the Shark, told the audience to floss three times a day and reminded them that flossing and brushing doesn’t replace visits to the dentist.
“They have a pretty decent concept of what to do already,” he said. “They already knew that you’re supposed to brush and floss because they’ve been exposed to it.”
Herrera and Grimaldi used a long piece of rope as “dental floss,” holding it between two volunteers to demonstrate proper flossing techniques. Afterwards the students took several questions.
“We had an idea of what we wanted to show the kids,” Herrera said. “We kind of just showed up and put something together.”
Dental students said they drew from their classroom training but had to adjust their approach.
“We use words and say techniques that basically everyone knows,” Grimaldi said. “And we take what we saw when we were kids to create something like this.”
Christine LaSpina, book author targeting “tooth adventures” as she introduced herself to the groups of students, before reading “Toothkins: The Dentist is Your Friend.” The story introduces a boy who lost his tooth – his tooth travels to “tooth land” where the tooth fairy collects it. Afterwards, he embarks on a journey to the dentist.
She has three books; the first one is “Christmas Tooth” starting after her son lost his tooth Christmas Eve, where he thought, Santa Clause would meet the tooth fairy. She also received questions about the tooth fairy from her kids asking where they go – she said, “tooth land of course!”
And with her newest book, she realized that kids were afraid of the dentist. Her own kids didn’t want to go get their teeth examined or wanted to brush them. She wanted to find a way to make them comfortable with a dentist visit.
“I made them characters and was like my name is shotkins, tooth kins because kin mean friendship,” she said.
In addition to the dental care, The Long Beach Lions Club, a local division of the worldwide service organization provided eye-screening exams.
