First graders at four Forney ISD elementary schools were recently given free ‘prevent tooth decay’ kits through the Fantastic Teeth Fan Club. Members of Brooklyn and Prairieville Masonic Lodges gathered to assemble and deliver more than 560 dental hygiene kits to the children at Blackburn Elementary, Clayborn Elementary, Crosby Elementary, and Lewis Elementary schools.
The Fantastic Teeth Fan Club, sponsored by Masonic Children & Family Services of Texas, strives to prevent suffering from toothaches, reduce missed school days due to dental problems, and cut costs for dental treatment.
‘Prevent tooth decay’ kits contain: a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, healthy teeth sticker, twominute timer (optimal brushing time), Tips for Healthy Teeth educational information for parents in both Spanish and English, and a summary of MCFS services. Last year, Texas Masonic lodges partnered with MCFS to distribute more than 134,000 Fantastic Teeth Fan Club dental kits and information to first graders in nearly 1,700 schools across the state. In all, well over 1,000,000 of these kits have been provided to first graders by Masons since the program’s inception.
According to Oral Health In America: A Report of the Surgeon General, tooth decay is the single most common chronic childhood disease—five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever. Poor children are affected by this epidemic more frequently than other children, with nearly 12 times more restricted-activity days due to dental issues than children from higherincome families. With more than 1.5 million Texas children living in poverty, there is a great need for preventive dental care.
Dental problems also directly affect success for children, with more than 51 million school hours lost each year to dentalrelated illness. Teachers have judged both classroom performance and classroom behavior to be significantly poorer among children in need of dental care. Pain and suffering due to untreated dental disease can also lead to problems in eating and speaking.
Masonic Children & Family Services of Texas (MCFS) is a non-profit organization with a history of helping children across Texas for more than 100 years. Contact MCFS by calling toll-free 1.877.203.9111; sending an email to info@ mcfstx.org; or by visiting the website, www.mcfstx.org.
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