South Texas Dental Donates 5,000 Toothbrushes to Houston Children for Back to School

Houston, TX, August 04, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Thousands of underprivileged pre-kindergarten and elementary school students in the Houston area will start the new school year with brighter smiles thanks to South Texas Dental’s donation of 5,000 toothbrushes to Operation School Bell, a nationwide program administered locally by the Assistance League of Houston.

According to Dr. Greg Lerner of South Texas Dental, the impact of poor oral health on children goes far beyond reduced self-esteem. In many cases, it can lead to missed school time and sub-par performance in the classroom.

“Tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood illness,” says Lerner, citing the first-ever Surgeon General’s report on oral health in America. “Poor dental hygiene and chronic dental pain leads to lost school hours, problems eating and inadequate nutrition. Moreover, early tooth loss can result in impaired speech development.”

Oral health is an important part of overall health, particularly at an early age, Lerner adds.

Besides the new toothbrushes from South Texas Dental, the Assistance League of Houston’s Operation School Bell program will supply close to 5,000 pre-kindergarten and elementary children in the Houston area with shirts, pants, a windbreaker, underwear and a voucher for shoes.

South Texas Dental was founded in 1993 by a group of dentists with the goal of creating a professional, patient-friendly setting where families can receive quality, yet affordable dental care. Today, South Texas Dental operates 24 offices in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio. Each office offers weekend hours with English and Spanish speaking staff. South Texas Dental accepts Medicaid, CHIP and most insurance plans. For more information, go to www.southtexasdental.com. “Like” South Texas on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SouthTexasDental and follow South Texas on Twitter at twitter.com/southtxdental.