Oral Health America Expands To Bring Needed Oral Health Care To Las Vegas Region

Oral Health America Expands To Bring Needed Oral Health Care To Las Vegas Region

Las Vegas Partners Join National School-Based Dental Health Program Network to Serve Children in Critical Need of Dental Care

Chicago, Sept.  8, 2014 – The ADA Foundation (ADAF) has announced the winners of the 2014 Smile Champion awards for Give Kids A Smile^® (GKAS).

CHICAGO, January 12, 2016 — Oral Health America (OHA) is pleased to welcome Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas (RMHC), Inc., Nevada Health Centers, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine (UNLV SDM) and Future Smiles to the Smiles Across America^® (SAA) network. The partnership, which includes nearly $50,000 in grant funding over two years from Ronald McDonald House Charities, will afford the Vegas-based programs expansion of oral health prevention services to underinsured school-aged children and boost dental literacy.

“Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas (RMHC), Inc., Nevada Health Centers, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine (UNLV SDM) and Future Smiles are committed to reaching hundreds of under-served children throughout Las Vegas and rural Nevada, many of whom do not have access to any oral health care. We are honored to welcome these worthy collaborative programs to the SAA network by helping them expand to capacity and positively impact even more children,” said OHA President and CEO Beth Truett.

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas with Nevada Health Centers operate the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile that travels throughout Nevada. Through this partnership, the organizations are able to reach hundreds of under-served. The University of Nevada-Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine improves school-based dental care delivery by expanding oral health preventive services. Future Smiles provides dental hygiene services in Las Vegas, Nevada’s Clark County School District.

Funding from the OHA will increase program capacity for each of the Program Partners. RMHC with Nevada Health Centers will focus on further developing, implementing, and monitoring the success of new strategies to expand their capacity to serve more youth in need of dental services. UNLV SDM will increase its services to a total of 17 elementary schools while Future Smiles plans to increase dental literacy with their oral health behavior modification reaching 5,100 children.

On Tuesday, January 19, 2016 from 9:00am to 12pm at RMHC of Greater Las Vegas, 2323 Potosi Street in Las Vegas, the partners will come together to celebrate with a short program and an interactive brush-a-thon featuring Las Vegas students learning the importance of brushing their teeth.

On the heels of the 10th anniversary of SAA, Oral Health America supports oral health programs across the country through grant funding, technical assistance in the areas of communications and coalition building, and product donations. Each year, SAA reaches more than 460,000 children and distributes more than 500,000 units of donated dental product.

For more information about Oral Health America and its Smiles Across America^® program, please visit www.oralhealthamerica.org.

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