NSU’s College of Dental Medicine Celebrates Gives Kids a Smile Day

FT. LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla. – Approximately 320 children were given a reason to smile thanks to volunteer dental students and faculty members at Nova Southeastern University (NSU).

 Nearly 250 volunteers from NSU’s College of Dental Medicine provided limited pro bono dental services valued at more than $110,000 to South Florida children ages 2-18 on Saturday, Feb. 21 as part of Give Kids a Smile Day (GKAS). This was the largest GKAS event at NSU since it launched the program 12 years ago.

The event drew children from local Boys and Girls Clubs, religious institutions and other organizations throughout the community. The more than 1,000 attendees, including the children and their family members, enjoyed a fun carnival atmosphere with Miami Dolphins linebacker Koa Misi and cheerleaders, Miami Heat dancers and mascot “Burnie,” face painters, balloon artists, music, Elsa and Anna from “Frozen,” robots from “Transformers,” and “Timmy the Tooth” and “Razor the Shark” mascots.

“It’s unfortunate that for many children, this is the only day they receive oral health care services for the entire year,” said Amanda Buscemi, D.M.D., co-coordinator of NSU’s GKAS Day and chief pediatric dental resident. “These children have toothaches and/or cavities, which can result in them missing days of school. We are privileged to provide them with a day of dental care. I am truly hopeful that the positive and fun environment we’ve provided leads to the children and their parents being excited to maintain their oral health care throughout the year.”

The U.S. Surgeon General reports that children miss more than 51 million school hours each year to dental-related illness.The Pew Children’s Dental Campaign describes dental care as “the single greatest unmet need for health services among children” in its latest report.

“The dental health of our children has a major economic impact on South Florida and is something that should be a priority to the business and health care community,” said Linda Niessen, D.M.D., M.P.H., M.P.P., dean of the NSU College of Dental Medicine. “Children can’t learn when they suffer from toothache pain and adolescents can’t reach their full potential if they are missing front teeth.”

Give Kids a Smile events take place annually throughout the United States as part of an initiative started by the American Dental Association to improve access to dental care for children. NSU’s GKAS program is entirely student organized and run. In addition, NSU’s Student Government Association provided financial support to the event.

“We are thrilled with the commitment of our student body to help plan and participate in our annual Give Kids a Smile event,” said Keren Castellucci, D.M.D., co-coordinator of NSU’s GKAS Day and incoming pediatric dentistry resident. “Working together to improve our community is what it’s all about. This event couldn’t be successful without the wonderful support we are given from our faculty, sponsors, student body and GKAS Team.”

NSU faculty members donate their time to this community service event and supervise dental students in this worthwhile project. Sponsors include Henry Schein, American Student Dental Association and NSU’s College of Dental Medicine’s Student Government Association.

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Give Kids a Smile: Each year, approximately 450,000 children benefit from more than 1,500 events. This year is no exception with the number of GKAS sites totaling 1,525. Since 2003, GKAS has provided dental services for nearly 5 million children. More than 16 million children nationwide have tooth decay and NSU’s Give Kids A Smile Day hopes to help combat this epidemic by providing treatment and raising oral health awareness. Give Kids A Smile has become the world’s largest oral health charitable program and an ADA access-to-care endeavor designed to encourage parents, health professionals and policymakers to address the year-round need for oral health care for all children.

About NSU’s College of Dental Medicine: Predoctoral and postdoctoral dental students of the college benefit from state-of-the-art educational programs and clinical facilities, dedicated staff, and an outstanding faculty recognized annually with numerous awards and honors. Research programs focus on clinical trials, biomaterials, tissue engineering, and innovative methods for delivering preventive dental services.  The College of Dental Medicine’s academic programs demonstrate a special commitment to caring for medically complex patients, underserved populations, and special needs children and adults. Students and professionals come from diverse backgrounds to pursue their courses of study at the college. For more information, please visit http://dental.nova.edu/.

 About Nova Southeastern University (NSU): Located in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida, NSU is a dynamic research institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and first-professional degrees levels.  An independent, not-for-profit institution with approximately 25,000 students, NSU has campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach and Tampa, Florida as well as  San Juan, Puerto Rico and online globally.  For more than 50 years, NSU has been awarding degrees in a wide range of fields, while fostering groundbreaking research and an impactful commitment to community. Classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is one of only 37 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification. For more information, please visit http://www.nova.edu/.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Katzman, M.B.A., APR | Office of Public Affairs
954-262-5408 (office)
954-661-7000 (cell)
j.katzman@nova.edu