Indiana University School of Dentistry to Host 2020 Give Kids A Smile® National Kickoff

As the host of the American Dental Association’s (ADA) 2020 Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) national kickoff event on February 7, volunteers at the Indiana University (IU) School of Dentistry provided free oral health services to about 250 local children in need. Children at the event received dental exams, cleanings, fillings, crowns, extractions, fluoride, sealants, X-rays and oral health education.  

More than 6 million children have received free oral health services through Give Kids A Smile since the program’s national launch in 2003. In 2020 alone, more than 300,000 children in need across the U.S. will receive free oral health services including oral health education, screening, preventive care and restorative treatment from nearly 6,500 volunteer dentists and 25,000 other dental team and community volunteers at 1,400 GKAS events. GKAS events range from those that provide services to hundreds of children in a day, to individual dentists providing pro-bono oral health services and a dental home to one or several children under the GKAS banner.

For more information about how Give Kids A Smile programs are organized across the country, please visit ADA.org. Give Kids A Smile is also the anchor event of the ADA’s National Children’s Dental Health Month (NCDHM). This year’s NCDHM campaign slogan is, “Fluoride in water prevents cavities! Get it from the tap!”

To learn more about good oral health habits, visit MouthHealthy.org.