Dear Friend,
Thank you for being part of the KinderSmile Foundation village. As we are nearing the end of 2023, we reflect back on this remarkable year with hearts full of emotion and gratitude. What a year, and it was all possible because of YOU!
We are excited to share the latest from KinderSmile Foundation. This year was full of growth and continued development. We count our blessings as we continued to serve the community, improved over 6,000 smiles at KinderSmile Community Oral Health Centers Bloomfield, Newark, and Trenton, enhanced our programs, and spread awareness of the disparities that we see everyday, as we advocate for a change in the landscape of access to oral health care in the state of New Jersey.
We are truly grateful to our donors, grantors, volunteers, and friends who are all part of the KinderSmile Foundation village.
Together, we can work to ensure that every family has access to a dentist and preventable dental diseases are eradicated. We couldn't do it without all of you! Your continued support and generosity have been truly appreciated! #ItTakesAVillage
We wish you a wonderful holiday season, and a happy and healthy 2024! |
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Nicole McGrath-Barnes, DDS, FACD Founder & CEO
KinderSmile Foundation |
| Michal Herman, DDS COO KinderSmile Foundation |
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The Latest from KinderSmile Foundation |
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Toothache: The Painful Truth About Oral Health Care Inequity |
This year culminated with the dual premiere of KinderSmile Foundation’s documentary, Toothache: The Painful Truth About Oral Health Care Inequity. The successful screenings in Hamilton and Montclair, exposed the audience to the inequalities we see everyday in our very own communities.
The film reveals the disparities in access to oral health care for marginalized communities in New Jersey, bringing attention to the need for change, and advocating for a call to action.
We are grateful for the support from our village, which made this dream a reality! Thank you to the documentary and events sponsors, our documentary committee, our panelists and honorees, our producers and editors, participants, team, volunteers, families, and friends.
KinderSmile Foundation honored NJ State Dental Director Dr. Darwin Hayes, Deborah Sands Gartenberg, Dr. Sara Kalambur, and Dorrie Gagnon at the events, for their commitment to public health and to advancing oral health equity in vulnerable communities in New Jersey. Our panelists included Dr. Darwin Hayes, Dr. Hazel Harper, Dr. Nicole McGrath-Barnes, Dr. Debony Hughes, Marie Brown, and Kathy Smith. Thank you for your thoughtful remarks and for helping place oral health care in the forefront through these meaningful conversations!
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Lack of access to oral health care is correlated to mental health and confidence. Perpetual dental disease impacts children and adults’ mental health, leading to issues with speech, school performance, absenteeism from school or work, and lack of self esteem.
Supporting the mental health of our staff is just as important as providing care to the community. Dr. Nicole McGrath-Barnes and Dr. Michal Herman participated in an intensive full-day Mental Health First Aid Training, hosted by The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. Instructors guided participants about identifying signs of mental health challenges, reviewing different scenarios, and ways to respond.
The seminar led us to set up Mental Health Corners at KinderSmile Community Oral Health Centers, inclusive of resource materials and mindfulness activities, where team members could take a few moments of solace when needed. In January we will follow with professionally-guided Mental Health workshops for all staff. The health and wellbeing of our community and team remains our priority. |
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KinderSmile Oral Health Program is Getting a New Look! | |
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KinderSmile Foundation is thrilled to welcome Dr. Tamarinda J. Barry Godín, DDS, MPH as our new KinderSmile Oral Health Program Director. Dr. Barry Godín is a board-certified pediatric dentist, public health practitioner, and research scientist, dedicated to increasing oral health equity for vulnerable populations. For the past five years she served as an Associate Director and Supervising Dentist of the NYUCD CariedAway study.
Her interests align perfectly with those of KinderSmile Foundation. While providing oversight to the entire program, she is working to integrate new treatment modalities, garner the support of Give Back a Smile volunteer dentists and dental hygienists, streamline protocols, implement extensive data collection, and more. Welcome to our Village!
KinderSmile Oral Health Program is the flagship program of our nonprofit organization. Founded with values of education, intervention and prevention as methods to combat oral health care inequity, KSOHP increases access to dental care for underserved children, regardless of insurance status, by bringing dental care to schools or community centers at no cost to caretakers or the school system, and crucially linking them to our three Dental Homes KinderSmile Community Oral Health Centers Bloomfield, Newark, and Trenton.
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The Evolution of KinderSmile Perinatal Health and Wellness Program |
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KinderSmile Foundation’s Perinatal Health and Wellness Program breaks the dangerous cycle of untreated dental diseases by empowering uninsured and Medicaid-insured mothers, from pregnancy up to 3 years postpartum, with informative, personal, and culturally sensitive training about the importance of maternal oral health and its impact on the developing fetus and young children.
Prior to this year, PHWP provided care to uninsured mothers, usually due to immigration status, and 89% of our participants were Spanish-speaking. Our new PHWP Director, Nyeilla Veale, has been working diligently and successfully to expand our list of community partners and provide educational sessions also to mothers insured by Medicaid, with a goal of recruiting and enrolling more black mothers. Black mothers in New Jersey are facing disproportionately high rates of maternal complications and have much higher rates of preterm births and babies with low birth weight.
Maternal periodontal disease is linked to preterm birth and low birthweight, although treatment of periodontal disease during pregnancy has been shown to be safe and effective. Our program promotes medical-dental integration, and raises awareness of the importance of oral health to total health and wellbeing, while improving maternal outcomes, and reducing Early Childhood Caries. |
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Exciting News! Advocating for New Jersey’s Moms! |
The MOM (Maternal Oral Medical) Project, was introduced to legislation as
Senate Bill S-4153, and proposes to mirror KinderSmile Foundation’s own Perinatal Health and Wellness Program, scaled on a state-wide level. We wrote this bill in collaboration with NJHCQI, and introduced it as a three-year pilot demonstration project, which would include collaboration with the NJ Department of Health and the three NJ Maternal Consortia, seeking to improve maternal and child health outcomes by providing oral health education and dental care services to underserved pregnant women in New Jersey. The project includes data collection and analysis to assess the effectiveness of the program on improving maternal health outcomes.
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A Roadmap to Improving Access to Oral Health Care
in the State of New Jersey |
Oral health is the gateway to total health and wellbeing. Low income and historically marginalized communities face disparities in access to oral health care, impacting eating, speaking, sleeping, school performance, mental health, and more. Dental disease is the leading epidemic among low income families. Minority and low income children are less likely to see a dentist than their counterparts, and twice as likely to have tooth decay at a young age, yet more than 25 percent of children living in poverty have not visited a dentist in the past year. Over 80 percent of the children living at or below the federal poverty level are at risk to suffer from preventable dental diseases, yet only 22 percent of eligible New Jersey children receive preventive dental care.
KinderSmile Foundation has compiled a Roadmap to Improving Access to Oral Health Care in the State of New Jersey, outlining the challenges and suggested resolutions. We are in search of oral health champions and support from our public policy makers, in order to make a change and help bridge the existing gap.
We are grateful that the State of NJ has taken several strides to address oral health care disparities, such as appointing a Dental Director who spearheaded the creation of the State’s first Oral Health Plan, the expansion of Medicaid to cover all qualified children regardless of immigration status, and the inclusion of dentists in the State of NJ Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program for providing care in Health Professional Shortage Areas. But there is still a large gap for the families, that needs to be addressed!
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This newsletter is bookended by our
documentary film Toothache and the legislative Roadmap,
which work together to outline a clear vision and hope
for a future where access to oral health care is equitable! |
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On behalf of the entire KinderSmile Foundation Village, we express our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support. Your generosity brings hope and smiles to those who need it most. As you wrap up your year-end giving plans, consider giving the gift of a smile
by supporting KinderSmile Foundation.
Your tax-deductible donation has a direct, lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of every child and adult served at our Dental Homes and through our programs.
To learn more about donations of stock or planned giving, please email Nye Veale. |
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Thank You to Our 2023 Grantors:
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