On Monday October 7th, over 40 UNE students from Dental Hygiene and Dental Medicine participated in an event to pack 3000 “Bruce the Dental Moose Kits” with From the First Tooth (FTFT). FTFT is a Maine-based statewide children’s oral health initiative funded by the Children’s Oral Health Network of Maine. FTFT aims to improve the oral health of Maine’s children from the eruption of a child’s first tooth up to age 21 by implementing an evidence-based preventive oral health approach in the medical home. Oral health is a part of overall health, so it is important for medical providers to play a key role in preventing childhood caries.
In partnership with Maine AHEC, UNE’s American Student Dental Association (ASDA), UNE’s Dental Hygiene, and UNE’s College of Dental medicine, the group was able to assemble approximately 3000 kits for primary care offices to provide to their pediatric patients. Each kit includes a child tooth brush, kid-friendly fluoridated toothpaste, floss, and educational materials. FTFT currently has a waitlist of primary care offices around the state interested in providing the Bruce the Dental Moose kits.
Contact: Micaela Maynard, Maine AHEC (mmaynard4@une.edu)