San Fernando Valley Dental Society

Every year, the San Fernando Valley Dental Society participates in a nationwide community program sponsored by the American Dental Association called “Give Kids a Smile.” this program provides free dental screening, fluoride varnish applications, dental education, diet counseling and referrals to pre-school and early primary school children.  While our focus is on 0-5 year olds, we will screen and refer children up to the age of 12.

Dentists from the San Fernando Valley Dental Society, together with Oral Hygienists and Dental Assistants volunteer their time to perform these free dental screenings to hundreds of children, most notably, children from low-income households whose parents cannot otherwise afford have such screenings and fluoride varnish applications performed on their own.  In addition, volunteer dentists will complete the AB 1433 forms parents need to enroll their children in kindergarten.

In 2010, the San Fernando Valley Dental Society’s Give Kids a Smile program screened more than 235 children from the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center School and the Pacoima Charter Elementary School at the dental clinic of M.E.N.D. (Meet Each Need with Dignity), a non-profit, community-based organization located in Pacoima.

Children were given coloring books, crayons, a toothbrush, toothpast and a brief review of dental and oral health (including diet counseling) by dental assistants and Oral Hygienists before being brought into the clinic for a dental screening.

Once in the clinic, volunteer dentists spent time putting each child at ease and explained what the screening procedure would be about and why periodic screenings are important. The dentists performed a visual screening of the child’s teeth and applied a fluoride varnish (donated by national dental products companies) to their teeth. In the last phase, the children were taught the importance of flossing and how to floss, and each child received their own small tin of dental tape (also donated by national dental products companies) to bring home with them.

At the conclusion of the screening, the children were given a very friendly and praiseworthy thanks for participating in the program by the dentist, further reinforcing the non-threatening aspect of seeing a dentist – and were awarded a cartoon sticker of their choice.

Any child whose screening revealed the need for follow up was noted and passed on to the school’s health professionals for follow-up consultations and referrals to the child’s parents.

 Head Start Programs