In this video, learn how to use the items in the Early Dental Health Starter Kits.
The Statewide Need for Oral Health Education
A 2016 survey of children in the Nebraska Head Start Program found that 46% had dental decay, which is higher than the national average. Early oral health habits can prevent dental decay and early childhood caries, an infectious disease that can lead to severe pain, language development delays and malnutrition.
Purpose of the Early Dental Health Starter Kits
The UNMC College of Dentistry partnered with the Nebraska DHHS Office of Oral Health and Dentistry and the Nebraska Community Foundation to produce and distribute kits packed with unique oral hygiene items for children from birth to 6 years old. The kits are given at no cost to new parents and caregivers at hospitals, head starts, daycares, WIC centers and other locations.
The goal of the kits is to help prevent dental disease in children. The kits also emphasize the need to establish a dental home for continual dental disease prevention and education by the time the child is 1 year old.
Project Impact
50,000 early dental health starter kits have been produced and distributed to public health departments across Nebraska.
Distribution Partners
- Nebraska Hospital Association
- DHHS Office of Oral Health
- Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health
- Four Corners Health Department
- Lincoln Lancaster County Health Department
- North Central District Health Department
- Northeast Nebraska Public Health Department
- Panhandle Public Health District
- Southeast District Health Department
- Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department
- Three Rivers Public Health Department
- Two Rivers Public Health Department
- UNMC College of Dentistry
- West Central District Health Department