Kiwanis helps with tooth protection for children
<p>Dental hygienist Carrie Busch applies fluoride varnish to the teeth of Kaidence Nollen, 4, at Coeur d'Alene Head Start.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Conner Rosebrook, 3, pawed through the plastic bag until he found the treasure he'd seen his friends playing with. He held a green, hour-glass timer in the air triumphantly and watched closely as sand trickled from one end to the other.
"They love the timers," said Carrie Busch, a dental hygienist with the Panhandle Health District, as she painted bubblegum-flavored fluoride varnish on another child's teeth. "These kids are so good. I expected some tears, but they're all just great."
Busch applied fluoride varnish to the teeth of about 70 Head Start preschoolers at Coeur d'Alene's Harding Family Center last week and gave them all oral health supplies thanks to a $1,037 grant from the Coeur d'Alene Kiwanis Club.
The grant enabled PHD to purchase supplies for 300 infants and 500 children from lower-income families and 200 pregnant women in the Women, Infants and Children program.
Fluoride varnish is a protective coating that Busch brushes onto a child's chewing surfaces and around the gum line. The process takes about two minutes and helps offset any starting decay.
The Head Start children sat in tiny classroom chairs with their mouths wide open as Busch peered at their teeth with a lighted mirror.
"Do you brush your teeth every night and every morning because they look really good?" she said to one child who nodded in answer.
Busch paused from her exam and addressed all three children in the room. "Do you know what causes decay?" The kids stared at her expectantly. "Do you think it might be sugar?" Busch asked, and the children smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
The fluoride varnish lasts six months. Children received bags filled with fluoridated toothpaste, dental floss, two-minute timers to use while brushing, toothbrush covers, stickers, information on tooth care and a list of local dentists who accept Medicaid.
Mothers with infants also receive baby tooth wipes with Xylitol, a natural-occurring sweetener that reduces and sometimes reverses tooth decay.
The Coeur d'Alene Kiwanis grant will enable PHD to take oral health supplies to Head Start children in all five northern counties.
Information: www.phd1.idaho.gov.