February 3, 2025
Shawnee State University’s Dental Hygiene program in partnership with the Southern Ohio Dental Society, Ohio Dental Association, and state leaders will host the annual Give Kids A Smile Ohio event on Friday, Feb. 7 starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Health Sciences Building, Room 101.
During the event, volunteers will provide a day of free oral health care for over fifty Scioto County School District students. Volunteer dentists from the Southern Ohio Dental Society alongside SSU’s Dental Hygiene students will provide preventative care and teach proper oral hygiene habits to participating children.
In 2011, the Ohio Department of Health reported that children from low-income families were more than twice as likely to have untreated cavities as those from middle- or upper-income families. Give Kids A Smile is an opportunity for dental professionals to improve oral health literacy on a broad scale by taking the message directly to the schools and other organizations who work with children. Through the Give Kids A Smile program, created by the American Dental Association, dentists and dental professionals across the state and nation volunteer their time throughout the year to provide screenings, treatments, and oral health education to children.
The media is invited to attend this year’s Give Kids A Smile event held at Shawnee State University. For more information, contact the Executive Director of the Ohio Dental Association, David Owsiany at david@oda.org.
To learn more about Shawnee State University’s Dental Hygiene program, visit shawnee.edu/dental-hygiene.