Trident has joined Oral Health America's (OHA) Smiles Across America program and actor Chris O'Donnell in a campaign to help fight cavities among the nation's youth and address the need for oral disease prevention services.
To support the effort, 5 cents from every pack of Trident gum sold between September 13 and 19 will be donated to the program to support school-based and school-linked oral health services in schools for children without routine access to dental care, according to the company.
This is the second year of a three-year, $1.5 million contribution from Trident to Oral Health America for the program.
Each year, more than 51 million school hours are lost as a result of problems related to tooth decay, the most common chronic childhood disease in the U.S., according to a report by the U.S. surgeon general. Yet according to a recent survey by Trident, more than eight in 10 (84%) U.S. parents don't realize this, the company noted.
Tooth decay affects approximately half of all second-graders and nearly 80% of 17-year-old youths, according to the report. Despite this, nearly three-quarters (74%) of U.S. parents don't necessarily consider tooth decay to be a chronic childhood disease, Trident said.
The Smiles Across America program supports dental services for more than 250,000 children annually in underserved communities across the U.S. and has pledged to deliver 2 million sealants by 2020.
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