First Smiles Education and Training Program

The First Smiles Education and Training Project is the result of a four year, $7 million grant from First 5 California awarded to the CDA Foundation and the Dental Health Foundation. The goal of the project is to significantly reduce the incidence of Early Childhood Caries (ECC) in children under five years of age, and those with special health care needs.

To reach this goal, the project provides training to dental and medical teams, as well as early childhood educators, on the early detection and prevention of ECC. In addition, the project has designed an online clearinghouse to serve as a resource for the three audiences, and includes the latest science and research on ECC prevention, risk assessment forms and guidelines for providing anticipatory guidance to parents and caregivers.

Based on studies which have shown that in California alone over 40 percent of children have tooth decay by the time they reach kindergarten, the importance of children’s oral health is gaining momentum. First Smiles is making a difference.

• To date nearly 7,000 dental professionals and over 4,000 medical professionals have participated through live lectures or web-based learning.
• Thirty trainings have been held for Head Start and WIC program staff to educate children and their parents about the importance of oral health as it relates to overall health and well being, caries transmissibility and adopting positive behaviors to reduce caries risk.
• The project website, first5oralhealth.org, hosts more than 10,000 visitors each month. Downloadable patient education materials, many translated in 10 languages, include resources for conducting caries risk assessment, peer-reviewed journal manuscripts, “Age Appropriate Anticipatory Guidance,” and free online training for continuing education credit.
• 25% of site visitors are from outside the United States
• One million copies of “Healthy Teeth Begin at Birth,” a patient education brochure printed in 10 languages, have been distributed. The California WIC Association Secured funding to print an additional million copies.

As First Smiles enters its final year, the CDA Foundation will continue to educate health professionals about the importance of establishing a dental home by age one and engage stockholders to adopt the messages to sustain the momentum for continuing to improve health of California’s children.

First Smiles Continuing Education Information

Please visit the First 5 California website at www.ccfc.ca.gov. 

Contribute to the First Smiles Education and Training Project. 

First Smiles training is making a difference in the oral health of children by providing training on early prevention and detection of Early Childhood Caries.