DELTA DENTAL'S "LAND OF SMILES" PROGRAM TAKES THE STAGE IN WENTZVILLE ,MO

For more than a decade, Delta Dental’s “Land of Smiles” program has been touring schools and fighting childhood dental disease with the help of its legendary character, Tooth Wizard. This fall, Delta Dental is bringing a new adaptation of the “Land of Smiles” show to schools featuring Tooth Wizard’s sister, Tooth Fairy. Together, these characters use upbeat and interactive means to educate and inspire children to adopt healthy life habits. The children at St. Patricks School in Wentzville, Mo., are among the most recent students to experience the all new “Land of Smiles” show.

The performance features the pair and their ongoing crusade to help kids have healthy teeth. Tooth Fairy explains to the students that night after night, she collects all of the baby teeth left under pillows and places them high into the night sky over the mythical Land of Smiles to make “beautiful twinkling stars” throughout the Land. But, unhealthy teeth just drop back down to the ground. To prevent this from happening, the characters get the children excited about brushing and flossing properly and visiting Tooth Wizard’s “best friend,” the dentist. Some lucky volunteers even get to dress up as teeth and help Tooth Wizard demonstrate the tricky art of cleaning between teeth with floss and rinsing with mouthwash, as they swish under a bucket full of streamers. The characters also discuss what foods are good and bad for teeth and overall health, as well as the importance of having fluoride varnishes applied to teeth and making healthy lifestyle choices.

Tooth Wizard and Tooth Fairy come bearing gifts for the students at the elementary schools they visit. Each child is sent home with a “smile bag” from Delta Dental, packed with a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, an educational coloring sheet and a mirror decal reminding them to brush twice daily. After the show, the school receives a Healthy Smiles Toolkit that provides a curriculum guide with six lessons and activities teachers can use in the classroom to reinforce the oral health messages of the ”Land of Smiles” show. The toolkit also includes a large mouth model and toothbrush, children’s books, a sing-a-long CD and a Land of Smiles DVD.

“Our ‘Land of Smiles’ characters really resonate with the kids, inspiring action and motivating change,” commented Monica Green, manager of marketing and communications for Delta Dental of Missouri. “We are excited to add Tooth Fairy to the mix. Everyone knows her, but no one ever gets to spend time with her. We are confident the kids will be tickled to hear her story of why she collects teeth and how she uses the healthy ones.”

Throughout the school year, two separate “Land of Smiles” casts will collectively reach more than 65,000 students at over 320 schools across the state of Missouri.

To learn more about this program, or if you are interested in bringing the award-winning “Land of Smiles” program to your school, have your child’s teacher, principal or school nurse go to www.LandofSmilesProgram.org . If you have questions, please call 888-383-0008.

Delta Dental is the dental benefits leader in Missouri and the U.S. Ninety-six percent of Missouri dentists participate in a Delta Dental network and 4 out of 5 dentists participate nationally. In Missouri, more than 1.5 million members in over 1,800 companies, large and small, choose Delta Dental. Nationally, nearly 1 in 3 families with dental benefits choose Delta Dental - 56 million members from nearly 96,000 companies. Delta Dental is also committed to improving the oral health and overall health of the children in our community and therefore proudly supports the Delta Dental Health Theatre, Give Kids A Smile and Delta Dental’s Land of Smiles educational touring theater program. To learn more about Delta Dental of Missouri visit www.deltadentalmo.com.