 GKAS health fair: University of North Carolina School of Medicine student Alex Ahearn shows a Durham Head Start preschooler how a stethoscope works at the UNC School of Dentistry’s Give Kids A Smile event Feb. 7. The dental school partnered with UNC School of Medicine and UNC School of Nursing in hosting a health fair during the school’s first GKAS event where about 100 children ages 3-5 received more than $16,000 in free dental care services. |
 Big smiles: University of North Carolina School of Dentistry students Anthony Brown and Rosanne Morgan pose with patient Ashley Melissa Zurita Jarquin at the school’s first Give Kids A Smile event Feb. 7. About 100 children ages 3-5 received more than $16,000 in free dental care services. |
 GKAS health fair: University of North Carolina School of Nursing students Connor McNicholas and Olivia Wilson speak with a group of children attending the UNC School of Dentistry’s Give Kids A Smile event Feb. 7. The dental school partnered with UNC School of Medicine and UNC School of Nursing in hosting a health fair during the school’s first GKAS event where about 100 children ages 3-5 received more than $16,000 in free dental care services. |
Chapel Hill, N.C.—In its first Give Kids A Smile event on campus, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Feb. 7 provided free dental care to nearly 100 children ages 3-5 years old.
The Durham Head Start preschoolers received dental exams, tooth cleanings and fluoride varnish treatments worth about $16,000.
More than 200 students, residents, staff and faculty members from the UNC School of Dentistry joined thousands of dental volunteers across the country, providing care in conjunction with the American Dental Association’s annual Give Kids A Smile Day. The event was one of eight GKAS events in North Carolina on Feb. 7, and one of about 1,500 in the country.
In addition, the children engaged in an activity health fair where representatives from the UNC School of Medicine, School of Nursing and Gillings School of Global Public Health helped educate the children on oral health, nutritional health and overall health.
“I am particularly proud of the way our Give Kids A Smile Day showed how interdisciplinary collaboration among dental, medical and public health providers can have an impact on our patients and their families,” said Ben Anders, a second-year dental student and one of the event co-chairs. “I believe that our school’s Give Kids A Smile Day exemplifies how successful and fun these collaborations can be.”
For more information visit Give Kids A Smile.