Children in daycare and kindergarten programs in the Quinte area will receive free dental fluoride this year.
The provincial government’s expansion of a no-cost health unit dental program means the health units will again offer their Fluoride Varnish program.
Health promoter with the health unit that serves Northumberland County, Anna Rusak, says this is the second year for kindergarten and third year for daycare children.
Rusak, who is with the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge health unit, says the expanded Fluoride Varnish program is especially effective in helping to combat childhood tooth decay in the region.
She says it’s a problem that typically affects up to 40% of local junior kindergarten and senior kindergarten students who are screened by the health unit.
The expansion of the Fluoride Varnish program is due to recent changes to the provincial Healthy Smiles Ontario dental support program. For the HKPR health unit, the changes apply due to the fact no communities in its jurisdiction currently add fluoride to their municipal drinking water systems.
