Dental Asia March/April 2022

GIVING BACK TO SOCIETY
American Dental Association celebrates 20th anniversary of Give Kids
A Smile programme
The American Dental Association (ADA)
celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Give Kids
A Smile (GKAS) programme which has provided
oral healthcare education and services to more
than seven million underserved children in the
US, the agency revealed.
In 2022, nearly 1,000 GKAS events are
scheduled to take place throughout the US,
and it is estimated that 300,000 underserved
children will receive oral health education and
preventive and restorative services, such as
cleanings and fillings. These services will be
provided by more than 20,000 dental team
volunteers, including approximately 5,000
dentists, using supplies from 3,200 kits of
essential oral healthcare products donated
by Henry Schein, Colgate-Palmolive, and its
supplier partners.
Henry Schein has served as the professional
product sponsor since the programme’s
inception. Their support has included
donations from its supplier partners, which
have contributed to the US$20 million in oral
healthcare products made available to the
programme, and hours preparing and sending
more than 40,000 dental kits.
Colgate-Palmolive has served as the sponsor
of health and hygiene consumer products
since 2007. Their support of GKAS has helped
build proper oral care habits and reflects the
company’s mission to reimagine a healthier
future for all. In addition to supporting GKAS,
Colgate-Palmolive promotes health equity
and optimal health and well-being among
underserved children and their families through
its Bright Smiles, Bright Futures initiative.
“What began as a grassroots effort has
become a national movement to ensure
access to quality health care for all children,”
said Cesar R. Sabates, president of the ADA.
“The success of GKAS would not be possible
without the nearly 37,000 dental professionals
who volunteer at local events each year, in
addition to national sponsors, Henry Schein
and Colgate, and long-time supporters like the
ADA Foundation. My sincere appreciation and
thanks to all of you who have been a part of the
programme, some from the very first day. We
are all involved for the right reason – to Give
Kids A Smile and help children in need.”
Supplier partners that are supporting the
2022 Give Kids A Smile programme through
product donations also include 3M, Centrix,
DASH Medical, Dentsply Sirona, DMG America,
Dukal Corporation, Medicom, PacDent, Premier,
Richmond, Sempermed USA, Sunstar, TIDI
Products, and WaterPik. ■
An honorary OBE for 20 years of Mouth Cancer Foundation service
Dr Vinod Joshi, founder of the Mouth
Cancer Foundation, has been awarded
the Office of the Most Excellent Order of
the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of
services to fighting cancer.
His journey began 20 years ago with a
mission to save and improve lives and
drove the creation of the charity’s first
website. Dedicated to raising awareness,
educating and promoting the early
detection of mouth cancer as well as
supporting those affected by it, Dr Joshi
set up the Restorative Dentistry Oncology
Clinics’ mouth cancer awareness website
to complement the work he was doing at
the clinics he ran at St Luke’s Hospital,
Bradford and Pinderfields Hospital in
Wakefield. The forum in the early days
created a network of support for head
and neck cancer patients going through
treatment.
The website experienced growth, with the
message board facility becoming an online
support group. This convinced the National
Health Service (NHS) consultant to establish
the Mouth Cancer Foundation in June 2004,
a not-for-profit organisation with the intention
of becoming a registered charity, which
happened in May 2005.
Dr Joshi said: “My work as an NHS
consultant in restorative dentistry included
maxillofacial prosthodontics which is the
rehabilitation of head and neck cancer
patients using prostheses and providing the
supportive care needed following their sideeffects
from their treatments.
“I created a support network for these
patients from my hospital work and it
evolved into the Mouth Cancer Foundation
charity, which provides support for mouth
cancer patients, their carers and information
for dentists and the public to facilitate early
diagnosis of these cancers and save lives.
“The charity also organises the annual Mouth
Cancer 10km Awareness Walk in Hyde Park,
London, the only charity walk for mouth cancer
awareness and support, as a memorial for lost
loved ones and a tribute to patients and their
carers.”
The charity continues to
grow from strength to
strength with patients,
carers and survivors at
the heart of all activities.
A large part of the
charity’s remit today is
also educating dental and
medical professionals on
the early detection
of head and neck
cancers. ■
78
DENTAL ASIA MARCH / APRIL 2022