A Halloween Alternative

NCOHF introduces Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy

by Fern Ingber, MEd

Dental hygiene students at the National Children's Oral Health Foundation Affiliate at Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey, Ill., participate in an outreach event in 2009.

Halloween, when cavity-causing candy abounds, has become the perfect time for you to help rescue millions of America's children from the debilitating pain of pediatric dental disease. National Children's Oral Health Foundation: America's Toothfairy (NCOHF) is turning Halloween into a holiday that celebrates our commitment to oral health with the national launch of Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy.

A campaign to benefit the NCOHF Affiliate network of comprehensive nonprofit oral health centers, Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy gives dental professionals and their patients the opportunity to raise funds and help the most underserved children receive the oral health care they deserve. This Halloween, dental professionals, caring individuals, and trick-or-treaters across the country will be collecting money to change children's lives.

Get your community excited about oral health

As a dental hygienist, you are a prevention specialist and natural partner in the child-saving mission of NCOHF. Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy is a simple and fun way for you to expand your reach and help at-risk children who will never have the opportunity to be your actual patient. We hope you use your passion for oral health to become an ambassador for Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy, and that you encourage your practice, patients, and community to get involved this Halloween.

Participating dental offices will receive a Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy kit that includes a collection box for the waiting room or reception area, and a supply of kits to hand out to patients during September and October. Additional Trick or Treat marketing and media templates, available at www.AmericasToothfairy.org, make it easy for your Trick or Treat campaign to become front-page local news. But don't stop there – you can encourage participation from other area businesses, host a Trick or Treat fundraising event, and even trick or treat yourself on October 31!

To celebrate dental hygienists as leaders in the Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy program and as prevention specialists, NCOHF will select three participating dental hygienists to be featured in an upcoming issue of RDH magazine! A winner will be chosen in each of the following categories to appear in a future RDH article:

• Most money raised by a dental hygienist
• Most creative fundraising approach
• Best Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy photo submission

For consideration in one or more categories, send us your submission via e-mail to [email protected] or U.S. mail. All entries must be postmarked by Nov. 15, 2010. Contest details can be found on www.AmericasToothfairy.org.

Join us to improve the oral health of all children

Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy is more than just a fundraising campaign; it is a campaign to educate the American public about the importance of oral health and the urgency of this cause. By participating in Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy, you are not only raising awareness of the nation's No. 1 chronic childhood illness and raising critical funds for nonprofits that provide comprehensive care, you are also improving the oral health literacy of an entire community! Every kit you distribute includes Tips from America's Toothfairy, an outline of simple preventive and protective measures to ensure a lifetime of good oral health.

NCOHF Affiliate nonprofit partners across the country are working tirelessly to provide quality, comprehensive care to the children who need it most. Thanks to generous supporters like you, the NCOHF Affiliate network has reached more than one million deserving children since 2006, but the need continues to grow. Dedicated corporate underwriters continue to cover all NCOHF operational expenses, ensuring all additional contributions will fund life-changing Affiliate care. When you Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy, 100% of every dollar donated goes directly to these critical oral health care programs for children in vulnerable populations.

To order your free Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy dental office kit and an additional supply for patients and friends, contact your Patterson Dental Supply representative or visit www.PattersonDental.com. All Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy materials are also available for download at www.AmericasToothfairy.org.

It doesn't take much to help a child. Just $10 can provide preventive educational lessons to six underserved children, and $22 can give one child a comprehensive in-office dental prophylaxis. Together, through Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy, we can turn children's needless pain and suffering into healthy smiles and hope for a brighter future.

Fern Ingber, MEd, is president and CEO of National Children's Oral Health Foundation: America's Toothfairy.