"Smiles"- A Community Oral Health Promotion Program Among 3 to 5 Year Old Children in Kindergartens in Israel-A Pilot Study

Objectives: To prevent and reduce early childhood caries and to integrate supervised tooth brushing as a daily routine among children in kindergartens
Methods: A 3 year program was conducted by a team of dental hygienists with the cooperation of public health dentists. A monitoring and evaluation system was performed including longitudinal measurement of tooth brushing skills and early childhood caries in different program models among kindergarten children.
Results: One hundred and eighty (180) kindergartens in 8 sites across Israel, including 6000 children each year from all sectors, took part in the program. Children in kindergartens with a routine of daily supervised tooth brushing demonstrated significantly higher (twice) levels of tooth brushing skills compared to children in kindergartens without daily supervised tooth brushing, especially on tooth surfaces susceptible to caries attack at this age. Five year old children in kindergartens with a daily supervised tooth brushing demonstrated significantly lower (33% less) levels of early childhood caries as compared to children in kindergartens without daily supervised tooth brushing.
Conclusions: The "SMILES" program is an example of successful cooperation between partners from different sectors, organizations, and Ministries. It serves as a positive pilot and has become integrated in the efforts for implementing a national oral health promotion program during early childhood.