As a practicing dental hygienist Kimberly Meehan is a powerful spokesperson promoting children’s oral health awareness with the goal of building healthier communities one child at a time. You will find her visiting community centers and school classrooms to educate children on the importance of proper brushing, good nutrition, and dental sealants. We love being a big part of Kim’s presentations and helping her get the message out to kids and their families.

See her blog and story here:

Thank you Kimberly for everything you do.

http://kimberlymeehan.blogspot.com/2010/04/oral-health-presentation-at-7th-avenue.html

Special Olympics Special Smiles is part of the Healthy Athlete program that has been serving Special Olympic Athletes for over 10 Years. The program offers free health screenings, referrals to health care providers and training to students and professionals about the needs of people with intellectual disabilities. Healthy Athletes has a presence in over 90 countries. At more than 700,000 screenings in 92 countries, volunteer health professionals have brought free preventative medicine and care to athletes in dire need of basic checkups, and sometimes more.

Colin Farrell, Dr. Steve Perlman, and our very own Max T Mustang were photographed at the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes event in Shanghai China.

What Can You Do

Volunteer and join the more than 76,000 health care providers and students worldwide who have volunteered with the Healthy Athletes program.

Donate money to keep Special Olympics programs going.

Find out ways you and your church, club or friends can get involved near home. Find the Special Olympics nearest you and invite a speaker to your next get-together.

Know someone with an intellectual disability? Refer them to a Special Olympics program nearby.

For more information visit http://www.specialolympics.org/healthy_athletes.aspx

Smiles Across America® is a program created by Oral Health America and sponsored by Trident® gum. Smiles Across America® is dedicated to bringing dental services and education to undeserved communities around the US. They recognize that untreated oral diseases and tooth decay are major problems that affect today’s children and have come up with great programs to engage young audiences.  Launched in partnership with public schools and community oral health providers, SAA has provided over $1.1 million in grant support to programs in Maine, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minnesota, Las Vegas, and Santa Barbara/Ventura Counties (CA). SAA funding for oral disease prevention services allows communities to leverage resources and expand programs for uninsured and underinsured children.  The program supports services to over 90,000 children annually and helps communities respond to the critical need for oral disease prevention and oral health promotion.

Recently Jennie Garth, shown here with Max T Mustang, joined the team at a New York City public school to help show the importance of oral health care. If you would like to know more about this program you can visit them online at http://www.oralhealthamerica.org/index.html