Preventing cavities, encouraging smiles
Paying attention at school is difficult if your teeth hurt. And too many Texas children, some 67 percent, suffer from tooth decay.
The Dallas County Sealant Initiative strives to improve the dental health of Dallas County children by putting thin plastic coatings called sealants on second graders’ teeth. The initiative is a unique community partnership that also provides the children oral screenings, oral health education and referrals to dentists as appropriate.
Since the Sealant Initiative’s founding in 2000, BCD students have placed sealants on the teeth of 18,000 Dallas children. The program was initially funded through grants from the Crystal Charity Ball Foundation and the Baylor Oral Health Foundation. In 2003, the program became a part of the BCD Department of Public Health Sciences and is now funded by the dental school.
Dallas County Sealant Initiative community partners include: The Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry; Baylor Oral Health Foundation; DISD administrators, teachers, parents and children; Dallas County child advocacy groups and dental professionals; Communities in Schools; Dallas County Dental Society; Dental Health Programs, Inc.; Community Council of Greater Dallas; Children’s Medical Center; Parkland Memorial Hospital; Dentsply International; Colgate-Palmolive Company and Oral Health America.