Small Smiles Free Kids Dental Screenings

(Savannah, GA) "Open real big for me ah…very good."
Dr. Todd Bjur and staff had a busy Wednesday morning peeking into kids mouths.
For  “Healthy Smile, Happy Child Day”, Small Smiles Dental Clinic on Victory Drive offered free screenings.
"A lot of times parents may not have private insurance, and they may not qualify for any of the state insurance so those kids are kind of lost in the cracks.  So this is an opportunity for us to at least provide some basic dental information to the parents and let the child know that coming in to see the dentist isn't too scary," says Dr. Todd Bjur.
"you've got a real wiggly one here don't you?"
 little Mollena is getting the ultimate care, and Dr. Bjur is familiar with her history.
"She's been in here every six months since she was little so we're gonna do some sealants on her today which is a little plastic covering that we put on the big teeth."   
First in the chair, Mollena's siblings are getting the free service too.
"It's about appearance.  It's about how you carry yourself, and mostly taking care of your body.  That's how I was brought up and that's how I was taught and I wanna teach my kids the same way." 
During the free screening Dr. Bjur looks for cavities, gum disease, infection, and educates patients and their parents about maintaining a healthy mouth.
"We have lots of parents that maybe come in and their child had decay in their first visit, but it's really rewarding to see that progress over a couple of years where we start to see less and less decay in these kids and we start to see a little more investment in time to brushing, and diet change and things like that."
Practicing good dental habits will prevent problems later in life. 
As for Mollena she's got something to smile about.
Her teeth are in good shape.
"Smile for me…beautiful"
Dr. Bjur says dentists are concerned about children drinking too much fruit juice.
He says they're loaded with sugar. 
Parents are encouraged to give their kids water or milk as much as possible and make sure your kids are flossing and brushing their teeth every day.