Dental Health excursions for Sunraysia to mark Dental Health Week

It will be all smiles for the children at Kathleen Kelly Kindergarten, Nangiloc Kindergarten and Mildura Central Early Learning Centre this week as they visit Sunraysia Community Health Services (SCHS) to mark Dental Health Week. 

The recommencing of the visits is an important milestone in COVID-19 recovery, being the first since 2019. 

Registered with the Smiles 4 Miles program, the three services will take part in the excursions designed to educate children on the importance of taking care of their teeth, eating healthily and visiting the dentist.

As well as touring dental facilities, the children will meet with a dental nurse, participate in a puppet tooth brushing session, hear a story, and join in with other activities to promote good oral health. 

In Sunraysia, 17 early childhood services have signed up to participate in Smiles 4 Miles in 2023, with health promotion officer Emily Baker saying early education on oral health is vital. 

“Dental Health Week is a great opportunity for early childhood services to promote the program’s key messages: drink well, eat well and clean well,” Ms Baker told local news source Sunraysia Daily. 

“With the trial going well this year, hopefully we can offer more early child childhood services an excursion in 2024.”

Fellow oral health educator Toula Le Gassick agreed, saying that by learning lessons early, and working with caring adults, children can make better choices which improve their dental outcomes. 

“By promoting good oral health and dietary behaviours early in life we can decrease the likelihood of poor oral health in adulthood,” she said. 

To read the original coverage of this story, please see here.