Smiles were a bit brighter on Feb. 6 for 150 students from three schools in Brooklyn’s District 23 who went to the dental clinic for Brookdale University Hospital’s Give Kids a Smile Day. The students from PS 156, PS 184 and KAPPA V, a middle school, ranged from pre-K to 8th grade. They learned about dental health and hygiene and had individual dental screenings performed by the clinic’s dentists. The older students also had a special session to learn about the kinds of jobs available in the field of dentistry and to look at X-rays and braces and learn about the effects of things like sucking their thumbs.

“This is our second year doing this,” said Ina Babb-Henry, the educational liaison for the UFT’s Elementary School Division. She credits the program with enabling students at the three Brownsville schools to have their teeth examined and bring home a report that parents can take to a dentist at the clinic, or elsewhere, that explains the work that needs to be done. Brookdale’s dentists and hygienists make real connections with the students, offering the older ones volunteer opportunities at the hospital and recommendations for college, Babb-Henry said. The program has been so successful that another initiative was created for District 16 and 17 schools to bring students to Interfaith Hospital’s dental clinic this spring.