Kids get reason to smile

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POCATELLO -- Sherry Deiter has seen children in the Head Start program with cavities in every tooth. Some of them have had to get their dental work done at a surgery center while under anesthetic.

So Deiter, who oversees health and nutrition education for Head Start, saw a $5,000 oral hygiene grant offered through the Ronald McDonald House as a perfect fit for her program when she learned of the funding opportunity last fall.

Dieter wrote the grant in November, submitted it in January and received word that she'd received it in May. She attended a check presentation Wednesday at the new McDonald's location on Yellowstone Avenue. She learned of the grant through Mary Johnson, who owns the new restaurant and two other local McDonald's locations.

Head Start, a preschool program for low-income children, will use part of the funding to buy tooth brushes, dental floss, mouthwash and other dental hygiene products to send home with children. Another $2,000 of the grant will be used to finance dental care for children who couldn't otherwise afford it. The new program will be called "Head Start to a Healthy Smile."

Part of Deiter's job is to ensure children receive dental examinations twice each year.

"I went to a dental conference in November over in Boise, and they talked about the increased incidences of children with cavities and how it's become a nationwide epidemic," Johnson said. "You see the children have several cavities that need to be taken care of. Sometimes that's pretty traumatic for the kids, so we figured if we could provide the supplies we could avoid having to have treatment for cavities and such."

Deiter also develops menus for Head Start, leads physical activities to make sure children get plenty of exercise, provides them with healthy snacks and teaches health education lessons in their classrooms. For example, she teaches them lessons including dressing appropriately for weather conditions and the importance of washing hands regularly.

Deiter said Head Start will start distributing dental supplies for children to take home by the end of the month.

"Everything just costs so much these days -- food and gasoline -- any way we can help them out I think is a good thing," Deiter said.

Deiter, of Soda Springs, and her husband, Bill, have one daughter, Amber, 17. Deiter, originally from Ohio, is a football fanatic who loves the Cleveland Browns and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

By John O'Connell

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