The Hawaii State Department of Health has established a new dental surveillance program focused on third grade students, according to a khon2 report.
The program will conduct voluntary oral health screenings of approximately 3,300 third grade students of 64 public and charter schools in the state, according to the report.
The screenings began earlier this month and will run through May.
The Hawaii Smiles program was engineered by the DOH, Department of Education, Hawaii Dental Service Foundation and Hawaii Primary Care Association. Three federal grants and a $137,501 grant from the Hawaii Dental Service Foundation are funding the program.