THE DELTA DENTAL FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES ORAL HEALTH EDUCATION INITIATIVE GRANT RECIPIENTS

- Grant Offered to New Jersey's Abbott School Districts and Charter Schools to Raise Oral Health Awareness Among Underserved Children -

PARSIPPANY, NJ (September 8, 2009)

In an effort to reinforce the importance of oral health education all school year long, the Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation offered its third annual Oral Health Education Initiative Grant to elementary schools, including Charter Schools, in New Jersey’s Abbott school districts, to initiate an oral health education program in their third-grade classes for the 2009-2010 school year. Three schools have been chosen to receive a grant of up to $5,000 to fund the programs. The selected schools are: Florence Avenue Elementary School in Irvington, E.W. Kirkpatrick School in Paterson and Joseph H. Brensinger School in Jersey City. Additionally, Keansburg Elementary School—originally a 2007-2008 grantee—has been awarded funds to continue their program for a third year, due to the merit of its sustainability.

The winning schools developed individual oral health education programs made up of ten activities, to be presented monthly throughout the school year, that will work toward helping their students understand why it is important to maintain proper daily oral hygiene; how to properly brush and floss; the function of the dentist and hygienist; the relationship between oral health and food choices; and the relationship between oral health and overall health. The programs include activities such as reading and performing plays about good oral health, using disclosing tablets to identify areas plaque may form for better tooth brushing, and creating a dental health calendar.

“The programs each of the schools have developed exemplified the spirit of our initiative, the goal of which is to instill good oral health habits early on so that children can take them into adulthood,” said Diane Belle, vice president of the Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation. “Each program was selected for its creativity and originality, and sustainability, while focusing on the core value of bringing attention to the importance of comprehensive oral health education.”

According to the American Dental Association, tooth decay is increasingly a disease of children from low- and moderate-income households. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that among children suffering from tooth decay, almost 50 percent of these cases remain untreated, with the disease resulting in pain, dysfunction, being underweight, or having poor appearance – all problems that can greatly reduce a child’s capacity to succeed in the educational environment, as well as outside of school. The good news is that through proper oral hygiene and nutrition, childhood tooth decay can be prevented.

“Delta Dental welcomes the opportunity to further educate children, especially those who are underserved, about the importance of maintaining oral health and its close relationship to overall health and well being,” said Belle. “We look forward to following these schools along their journey this school year.”

The Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation plans to offer the Oral Health Education Initiative Grant again for the 2010-2011 school year. For more information, please contact Kimberly Elmore at (973) 944-4555 or kelmore@deltadentalnj.com.

About Delta Dental of New Jersey
Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc., is New Jersey’s leading dental benefits company, providing or administering coverage to more than one million people through contracts with employers in New Jersey and Connecticut. The Delta Dental system offers seamless dental benefits administration for employer groups throughout the country and the largest network of dentists in the nation. For more information visit us on the Web at www.deltadentalnj.com.

About Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation
Delta Dental established the Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation in 1986. Its mission includes promoting and assisting educational projects devoted to the enhancement of dental health, research programs designed to increase public awareness of the general benefits of good health, and to improve dental health through the science of dentistry. Each year, the Delta Dental Foundation provides financial support to various organizations throughout the state.