Smiles 4 Miles across Maroondah

Ringwood Uniting Church Kindergarten proudly received their Smiles 4 Miles award today, recognising their work to improve the oral health of some of our youngest community members.  

Smiles 4 Miles is an oral health and healthy eating program for early childhood services developed by Dental Health Services Victoria; and implemented in partnership with EACH Social and Community Health throughout the Maroondah and Yarra Valley region.  

Dental Health Services Victoria CEO, Dr Deborah Cole said Smiles 4 Miles is helping the youngest members of our community to improve their oral health now and into the future.  

“Tooth decay is largely preventable and Smiles 4 Miles will help our young Victorians maintain healthy teeth through the simple key messages of Drink well, Eat well and Clean well,” Dr Cole said.

“Oral health is important for general health and wellbeing, and we want to make sure our young people start out with healthy teeth and mouths.”  

EACH is working closely with local kindergarten and childcare services to achieve their Smiles 4 Miles award. Centres work on implementing healthy eating and oral health policies, training staff, engaging with families about the importance of oral health, and educating children through a variety of fun learning experiences.  

Maggie Palmer, Health Promotion Manager at EACH, said “Early learning sets up good patterns of behaviour for later life. By promoting good oral health behaviours early in life, we can decrease the likelihood of poor oral and overall health later in life.”  

Ringwood Uniting Church Kindergarten educator, Kate Braunthal said Smiles 4 Miles has helped improve the oral health of not only the children but families and educators too.  

“We all learnt so much and we saw a huge improvement in the nutritional value of the food and drink children were bringing for their lunch. We look forward to participating in the program again this year.”