Special Olympics teams with kids' foundation

Jul 15, 2009

The Special Olympics and National Children's Oral Health Foundation (NCOHF): America's Toothfairy have created a partnership to fight pediatric dental disease and promote overall health and well-being for millions of children with intellectual disabilities through the Special Olympics Special Smiles program, the organizations announced.

At their Special Olympics office in Washington, DC, Chairman of the Board Timothy Shriver, Ph.D., and President and Chief Operating Officer Brady Lum met with NCOHF President and CEO Fern Ingber and staff to begin implementing the partnership agreement.

The partnership provides the organizations the opportunity to work together to improve access to oral healthcare to help prevent pediatric dental disease for Special Olympics athletes and children with intellectual disabilities. Since its launch in 2006, NCOHF: America's Toothfairy, through its growing national network of community-based programs, has supported delivery of care to more than 1 million underserved children in the U.S., and will aid Special Olympics in securing dental care for children who participate in its programs.

"We look forward to working with NCOHF to ensure that children with intellectual disabilities benefit from the same health opportunities that so many of us take for granted," Shriver said. "We know from health screenings at our events that individuals with intellectual disabilities represent a drastically underserved population regarding oral health. Almost half of our athletes have untreated tooth decay, and more than 1 in 10 are actually experiencing chronic pain as a result. This is a disparity that needs to be addressed."

NCOHF will work with Special Olympics to continue to add more pediatric facilities to its affiliate network in areas where Special Olympics programs exist so that more children can be served.