Smile Guardian Program Launched by America’s ToothFairy

Family Promise of Las Vegas provides displaced families the opportunity to achieve housing stability by providing short term transitional shelter, case management and essential needs. Education kits were sponsored by SunBrite Dental, a dental care provider located in Las Vegas that participates in the Smile Guardian Program. | Image Credit: America’s ToothFairy.

Looking to help every child maintain a healthy smile and to educate them on how to prevent tooth decay, America’s ToothFairy began working on a program 5 years ago that just now is taking form.

America’s ToothFairy believes every child should know how to keep their smile healthy and have what they need to prevent tooth decay. That’s why in 2019 the nonprofit foundation began developing education resource kits to help oral health advocates and safety-net dental care providers teach families about the importance of oral health and how to prevent dental disease.

Last week the organization launched the Smile Guardian Program, which is powered by partners who help provide oral health education kits for families. These kits include Storytime Smiles Library Kits, Nutrition & Oral Health Kits, My Healthy Smile Booklet Kit, and the My Healthy Smile Activity Sheets Kit.

Too many children in the United States don’t know what causes dental disease and how they can prevent tooth decay, America’s ToothFairy states. The result is often a lifetime of poor oral health, contributing to lower grades and self-image, limited job opportunities, and poorer overall health.

“When we launched our Smile Guardian education initiative 5 years ago our intention was to provide a way for dental offices to support oral health education within their own communities,” America’s ToothFairy’s executive director Jill Malmgren says in a press release announcing the launch. The organizations that have access to the children who are most at risk for dental disease often lack engaging printed materials, which can be quite expensive to produce. What we didn’t expect was generous contributions from larger corporate entities that helped us develop materials with special themes to address the different habits that impact oral health.”

What started as a small-scale initiative has grown into a full-blown program supported by industry leaders such as Patterson Dental Supply, Delta Dental, MGE Management Experts, Cranberry, Crest, Oral-B and many others. The nonprofit says the program is reaching more 132,000 kids and their caregivers.

Some kits, such as those designed for use at public library story time events, include dental-themed storybooks. Others include superhero capes and masks that empower kids to be “Oral Health Action Heroes.”

Other Smile Guardian Program kits items can include:

• activity booklets for kids
• informational brochures for parents
• bookmarks with oral health tips
• dental hygiene habit trackers
• two-minute timers
• toothbrushes and toothpaste
• stickers

Robin Vann, the national programs manager of America’s ToothFairy, was surprised by the number of non-dental organizations that request educational tools. “We’ve received overwhelming responses from school nurses, librarians, and food banks to name a few. They see the rampant decay and how it affects the children they serve but they often feel powerless to change the mindset and habits that lead to dental caries. These kits give them what they need to address these issues effectively,” she states.

Ashley Conder, a school nurse at Midland School District in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas, poses with her young students and oral health education kits provided by America’s ToothFairy through their Smile Guardian Program.

“We’ve received overwhelming responses from school nurses, librarians, and food banks to name a few,” she said. “They see the rampant decay and how it affects the children they serve but they often feel powerless to change the mindset and habits that lead to dental caries. These kits give them what they need to address these issues effectively.”

“The cape and mask helped our kindergarten students get excited about being oral health superheroes and they really liked the activity booklets.” Ashley Conder, a school nurse at Midland School District in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas, adds in the press release. “The students were so excited about getting a new toothbrush and it is so encouraging to be able to give them a tool to help improve their health.”

With financial support from manufacturer Cranberry, which makes exam gloves, masks and rubber dams, America's ToothFairy has developed a webpage where dental professionals can sign up to sponsor these kits to be distributed to organizations serving at-risk kids in their local communities. The education packages can reach up to 5,000 families with sponsorship levels ranging from $2,500 to $20,000.

“We encourage dental offices to participate in oral health presentations along with the kits but that isn’t always feasible,” Malmgren adds. “That’s the best part about sponsoring these education kits–it puts the resources in the hands of people who are already serving and trusted by families who experience a higher rate of dental disease and helps connect them with the care they need to have healthy smiles.”

For those interested in partnering with America’s ToothFairy on providing oral health education kits for families in their community, you can visit the Smile Guardian Program page.