Sealants for Smiles receives donation from Intermountain Healthcare to increase access to oral health education and preventive dental services

SALT LAKE CITY — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Sealants for Smiles®, a nonprofit organization based in Salt Lake City, Utah, will receive a $100,000 donation from Intermountain Healthcare to increase access to oral health education and preventive dental services for at-risk children.

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“This donation will enable Sealants for Smiles® to bring preventive dental services to more at-risk Utah children. We are projecting to visit 30 new schools in 2013.”

The contribution will allow Sealants for Smiles® to expand the traditional model of school-based dental sealants of providing services only to 2nd and 6th grade children to providing oral health education, oral health evaluation by a licensed Utah dentist, fluoride varnish, and dental sealants to all grades. This donation will also allow Sealants for Smiles® to expand services to elementary schools with greater than 50% enrollment in free or reduced school lunch programs. This expansion will include eligible elementary schools along the Wasatch Front and throughout Utah.

Dr. Roger Adams, president and CEO of Sealants for Smiles, announced, “This donation will enable Sealants for Smiles® to bring preventive dental services to more at-risk Utah children. We are projecting to visit 30 new schools in 2013.”

“As a nonprofit health-care system, Intermountain Healthcare’s priority is to improve health in the communities we serve,” said Mikelle Moore, president of the Intermountain Community Care Foundation. “We are grateful to support Sealants for Smiles in its efforts to reach so many students and schools along the Wasatch Front and throughout Utah.”

As the only school-based comprehensive preventive dental program in Utah, Sealants for Smiles® currently visits Title I and low-income elementary schools primarily in Salt Lake County. Sealants for Smiles® uses portable dental units in the schools to provide free services including age-specific oral health education, oral health screenings and exams by licensed Utah professionals, fluoride varnish for all children seen, and dental sealants on eligible first and second permanent molars. All parents receive a letter listing the care provided and a list of available resources for follow-up dental care.