New Community Health Program Fights Tooth Decay
Developing Healthy Smiles to Last a Lifetime

By Natasha Kowalski, Sr. Health Educator, Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency

After lunch at a small preschool in Watsonville, the children line up at the sink to brush their teeth. “Remember not to bite the bristles. And go in circles,” says the preschool aide.

“Some of our children don’t have toothbrushes at home,” explains the director of the preschool. “So having toothbrushes at our school really helps; as a result, many students are now brushing at home too.”

These children are participating in “Happy Tooth”, a partnership between the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency (HSA) and local schools. This program serves almost 5,000 students, primarily elementary students and a limited number of preschool students in the Pajaro Valley. Funding from the Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust helped the Happy Tooth program to expand into additional preschools in the Pajaro Valley. Children practice daily toothbrushing in the classroom and receive fluoride supplements with parental consent. A bilingual educator from HSA recruits preschools to participate, trains the teachers, and distributes the dental supplies.

“The lucky students share a toothbrush with a sibling, but some don’t have a toothbrush at all,” says Julie Godinez, the educator for Happy Tooth. “And if they do have a toothbrush, the bristles are often bent and worn out,” she adds.

Local and national studies show that preschool children are an extremely important age group to reach because tooth decay starts at a very young age. In 2005, a screening of 64 percent of kindergartners at the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) showed that 34 percent of the kindergarteners had tooth decay.

“There is a silent epidemic among children in California”, says Dr. Poki Namkung, the Health Officer for the County of Santa Cruz. “Dental disease is the most common chronic disease among children, not obesity or asthma or childhood diabetes.”

Tooth decay is not a mere cosmetic problem nor a problem that will disappear with the baby teeth. It can lead to severe problems — problems like painful infections, abscesses and difficulty speaking, chewing and swallowing.

And kids cannot study when they hurt. They cannot sit still; they cannot focus. Over two million school days are missed by children ages 5 through 17 across the nation due to dental health problems.
“The irony is that children are suffering unnecessarily,” says Godinez. “With a little prevention, preschool students in the Pajaro Valley are developing a healthy smile to last a lifetime.