Oral Health America (OHA) will donate 5,000 units of fluoride varnish to 20 school-based health centers across the U.S. as part of a partnership with the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) and Preventech, the organization announced.
Recently, the NASBHC was awarded a grant from Kaiser Permanente to fund technical and financial assistance to school-based health centers to incorporate oral health promotion, assessment, and preventative practices within well-child visits.
OHA will donate Preventech's Vella 5% sodium fluoride varnish with xylitol, said Beth Truett, president and CEO of Oral Health America.
Funding for the grant is a result of Kaiser Permanente's employee wellness program, Healthy Workforce. The organization contributed $50 for each employee who took an online health risk assessment. Almost 23,000 Kaiser Permanente employees participated in the program, which raised $1.2 million overall.
One of the most pressing, unmet health needs of children and adolescents that the school-based health care program seeks to address is oral health, said Linda Juszczak, executive director of NASBHC.
Grantees will be trained on how to administer fluoride varnish that is being donated by OHA in partnership with Preventech. Preventech will also provide training materials to more than 40 healthcare professionals who will learn how to apply the varnish at the upcoming NASBHC annual conference in Chicago on June 26.
