For the sixth year, Henry Schein partnered with the American Dental Association (ADA) to support Give Kids A Smile Day, a program created to provide free oral health services to more than 500,000 underserved children throughout the United States.
“Team Schein is proud to support Give Kids A Smile for a sixth consecutive year,” said Stanley M. Bergman, chairman and chief executive officer of Henry Schein. “This flagship program for Henry Schein Cares, our global social responsibility program, has become a cornerstone in our efforts to help increase access to care for underserved populations both in the United States and abroad. Team Schein Members around the country worked with our customers and supplier partners to participate in this year’s Give Kids A Smile initiative. With our supplier partners providing over $1 million in product donations, Give Kids A Smile exemplifies what can be accomplished in thousands of communities through public-private partnerships among industry, the dental community and the ADA.”
Henry Schein Dental again served as the exclusive national distributor of professional products for Give Kids A Smile. With the support and commitment of 50 participating supplier partners, Henry Schein Dental provided 3,000 oral healthcare treatment and screening kits, which were distributed throughout the United States. Each kit contained healthcare supplies to serve 50 or more children.
The products and services contributed by Henry Schein and its supplier partners, along with Colgate-Palmolive and DEXIS®, two other primary sponsors of Give Kids A Smile, enabled dentists and dental team members to provide free oral healthcare to children from low-income families.
About Give Kids A Smile
The ADA created Give Kids A Smile as an annual vehicle to focus national attention on what the U.S. Surgeon General has called a “silent epidemic” of oral disease affecting children from low-income families, and to build support for public and private solutions that will help these children get regular oral health care. As noted in the Surgeon General’s 2000 report, Oral Health in America, dental decay is the most common disease affecting children in the U.S., occurring at five times the rate of asthma and seven times that of hay fever. Millions of children suffer from untreated, easily preventable oral diseases that affect overall health, including speech, eating patterns and the ability to concentrate in school.
As part of Give Kids A Smile Day, dentists and dental team members around the country are providing a range of dental services and educational programs for underserved children, while highlighting for policy makers the ongoing challenges that low-income and disabled children face in accessing dental care. Today’s events include in-school brushing demonstrations, community screening and treatment programs, and free private dental care.
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