Communities In Schools Encourages the Community to Collect Items for At-Risk Children as Part of National Dental Hygiene Month

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- October is National Dental Hygiene Month and Communities In Schools of Southern Nevada is looking towards the Las Vegas community for help. Individuals, businesses and organizations can help students in need by collecting items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss.  

Communities In Schools of Southern Nevada partners with Future Smiles to provide free dental services to children at their on-site clinic located at the Cunningham Elementary School campus. With fewer and fewer resources, community based programs that are convenient and accessible for families, such as Communities In Schools of Nevada's clinics, are many times the only option for dental and medical care for these students.

According to a joint United Way and Nevada Community Foundation study, access to dental health services is gravely limited in Las Vegas. Nevada ranks first in the nation for the prevalence of tooth decay (67.1%) and untreated decay (38.9%) among third graders; nearly 42% of third graders have not visited a dentist in the past year while 11.2% have never seen a dentist at all. The National Institutes of Health reports that dental disease among kids from low-income families is epidemic with 80 percent of children's tooth decay found in just 25 percent of children. And when children are suffering from toothaches, they are unable to focus on their schoolwork, their grades go down and discipline problems increase.

The Las Vegas community can stop the epidemic of tooth decay in our student population by colleting items that will help children take better care of their teeth.  Community collection drives can be done on any size scale ranging from just one family purchasing toothbrushes, or a civic organization collecting dental floss at their meetings, to a corporation holding a company-wide employee drive.  Every item collected will go directly to support Communities In School's initiative to provide children with a healthy start to a healthy future.

"Our students need help more than ever," noted State Director, Louise Helton.  "If these children can take the preventative measures towards dental health, they avoid many of the pitfalls that poor dental hygiene leads to including cavities, premature gum disease and having their teeth pulled at an early age.  And studies have shown that poor dental health leads to more serious health issues later in life such as infections, heart disease and more," she added.

About Communities In Schools of Nevada: Communities In Schools surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Through a school-based coordinator, Communities in Schools connects students and their families to critical community resources, tailored to local needs.  Working in more than 3,200 schools, in the most challenged communities, in 26 states, and the District of Columbia, Communities in Schools serves nearly 1.4 million young people and their families every year. Communities in Schools has become the nation's leading dropout prevention organization, and the only one proven to both decrease dropout rates and increase graduation rates.

SOURCE Communities In Schools of Nevada