EDISON — There were all happy smiles during the annual “Give Kids a Smile Day” at Middlesex County College.
The American Dental Association holds the event nationally on the first Friday of February at various locations including dental offices, colleges and hospitals. Last year, MCC changed the date to later in the month to accommodate any children who may have went to a location for Give Kids a Smile Day but needed additional dental work.
“We had quite a few children who attended the event at Robert Wood [Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick],” Michelle Roman, chairperson of dental hygiene at MCC, said during the Feb. 21 event.
Patty Pasterick of East Brunswick had taken her son Anthony, 9, to the Give Kids a Smile Day in Old Bridge on Feb. 2.
“He needed more work done, but they didn’t have time that day,” she said. “I found online that this event [at MCC] was being held. I think this is great for all the kids. It brings all the kids together showing that the dentist is not so scary. It is also cost-effective.”
Throughout the day, dentists, hygienists, dental students and alumni volunteered their time providing dental education on how to brush and floss to area, as well as free dental care including exams, cleanings, fluoride treatments, x-rays, sealants and, if needed, abstractions and pulpotomies.
At the MCC event, Roman said there were four dentists and 18 hygienists on hand. The dentists are Mannie Levi, Neal Hammer, Antonio Couzo and Jamie Leizer.
Hope Holbeck, an assistant professor at MCC, said the event, which has been held at the college for 15 years, has been fine-tuned over the years. The goal, she said, is providing the child with preventative care as well as completing what dental work needs to be done.
“It’s not just [the child] comes in and we tell the child [he/she] needs work done and send them back out to find someone who would do the work,” she said. “We want them to leave here disease-free.”
Holbeck said Give Kids a Smile is a happy day for the children and added that many former students, who are now dental hygienists, pay it forward and come back to volunteer their time.
During the event, Kristina Paramithis of Edison, a senior in the dental hygiene program at MCC, floated around as The Tooth Fairy, bringing smiles to the children’s faces.
“Many thought I was a princess at first,” she said with her own smile. “But when I tell them I’m The Tooth Fairy, they ask if I’m going to come to their homes and put money under their pillows.”
Paramithis said she is proud to be part of such an event providing a comfortable atmosphere for a good cause.
Give Kids a Smile Day at MCC provided 22 children with dental work estimated at nearly $30,000, Roman said.
Contact Kathy Chang at [email protected].