Dr. Jeffrey Caldwell and his office participated in the annual Give Kids A Smile Day March 24 at his office. This year served North and LaCroft elementaries. (Submitted photo)

EAST LIVERPOOL – Dr. Jeffrey Caldwell held the annual Give Kids A Smile Day March 24 at his office. This is the office’s 20th year of participation in this program. Through the ADA Foundation’s Give Kids A Smile program, launched nationally by the American Dental Association in 2003, more than 5.5 million children have received free oral health services. These free services are provided by volunteers including approximately 10,000 dentists annually, along with 30,000 other dental team members. In the previous 16 years, more than $14 million of dental care services have been provided to more than 250,000 Ohio children.

The purpose of this nation-wide event is to offer free dental exams and other treatment to children who may not otherwise receive care. Children also get acquainted with seeing the dentist in the dental office setting and have a fun experience. Other treatment offered includes: dental sealants on permanent non-decayed teeth, teeth polishing, fluoride treatments and dental hygiene instruction.

In addition to Caldwell, other area dental professionals who donated their time to this worthwhile cause included Dr. Sangeetha Sethi, pediactric dentist; Sierra McComas, RDH; Brenda Seaman, EFDA; and Jeri Anderson, CDA.

This reached students from North and LaCroft elementaries. Jamie Stine, EFDA, and Christina Vick, EFDA and their dental assisting students from the East Ohio College also volunteered their time. Also, Lauryn Wallace, an Allied Health student from East Liverpool High School, was a volunteer.

Sponsors included Life Time Dental Laboratory and Digital Design Dental Laboratory making donations to the Give Kids a Smile Day festivities. Henry Schein company also donated the dental materials used to take care of the children. Fresh on Fifth provided lunch for the volunteers.

All the dental professionals and volunteers are sharing the following tips for dental care:

– Take young children to the dentist, twice a year. Primary, or baby teeth, help children chew and speak. Primary teeth hold space for the permanent or adult teeth that are developing under the gums. Adults should also see their dentist twice a year; six month check-ups are very important to a person’s overall health.

– It is recommended that a baby’s first visit to the dentist be at 1 year old. Besides checking for decay and other problems, the dentist can show parents how to clean the child’s teeth properly and evaluate any adverse habits, like thumb sucking.

– Also it is very important that parents never put baby to bed with a bottle. The sugar in milk and juice drinks will lie on baby’s teeth all night and can cause cavities to develop in the baby teeth. If the baby must have a bottle at night, it should be filled with plain water.