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20 years of the Smiles 4 Miles program, supporting early childhood dental health
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Freya Lucas
Aug 28, 2024
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Popular early childhood dental program Smiles 4 Miles is celebrating 20 years of outreach, with Victorian Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas acknowledging the dedication of the staff and technicians who make the program possible.
“The earlier we teach our children how to keep their teeth clean, the more likely they are to continue these good habits throughout their life, so the Smiles 4 Miles program is providing an invaluable service to our community,” Minister Thomas said.The program has supported more than 60,000 children at 775 early childhood centres across Victoria since 2004, with the team working closely with early childhood centres helping them to improve the oral health of preschool aged children and their families by encouraging healthy eating and drinking and good oral hygiene habits.
Smiles 4 Miles delivers training to early childhood workers to enhance their knowledge of oral health, and also provides practical resources including fact sheets, newsletter inserts and curriculum ideas to early childhood services.
With this support these services can offer Smiles 4 Miles programs for free to all eligible preschool aged children enrolled with them.
To commemorate 20 years of Smiles 4 Miles, Dental Health Services Victoria is awarding a series of grants to local services across the state to help them purchase educational materials such as big teeth models and picture books.
Learn more about these grants here.
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