‘Give Kids a Smile’ program coming to VW

Submitted information

The 15th annual “Give Kids a Smile” program is coming to the Dental Center of Northwest Ohio’s Van Wert Smiles (Suite 207, 140 Fox Road in Van Wert) at 10 a.m. Friday, February 3, 2017.

This event is a partnership of the Ohio Dental Association, the Dental Center of Northwest Ohio, and the dentists of the community, who will provide needed dental care to underserved northwest Ohio children without dental insurance.

This will be the first Give Kids a Smile event held at the Van Wert Smiles office and the Dental Center of Northwest Ohio looks forward to highlighting this important nonprofit safety net dental clinic, which recently reached its first anniversary.

The center plans to help 50 children without dental insurance receive care that day, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. by appointment. Volunteer dentists will provide dental exams, cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, and needed restorative care, such as fillings and extractions.

Parents can make an appointment for their child to receive care at the Give Kids a Smile event by calling 419.422.7664.

Since the program began in 2003, Ohio dentists have given nearly $13 million in free care to more than 235,000 Ohio children in need. In 2017, events are planned throughout Ohio that are expected to impact more than 15,000 children.

Dental care programs such as Give Kids a Smile do much to improve access to dental care in Ohio, but the message about the importance of good oral health is stronger with reinforcement from Ohio’s leaders. The U.S. Surgeon General continues to report that 51 million school hours are lost each year due to dental disease — and that a child in pain from dental disease will most likely have difficulty functioning in school. In 2011, the Ohio Department of Health reported that children from low-income families