February is National Children’s Dental Health Month (NCDHM) and for years Dental Depot’s very own clown conductor, Smiley O’Riley, traveled the state in hopes of teaching as many children as possible the importance of their oral health. However, with almost 700,000 schoolchildren in the state of Oklahoma alone – it can be hard for Smiley to get his message out! That’s why this year we’re excited to announce a major change to our Smiley O’Riley program – we’re going digital!
That’s right, Smiley O’Riley has worked hard to put together a very special video program to teach kids about healthy habits that teachers can access anytime. This free video lesson also comes with dental hygiene bags to give students the tools to start practicing good habits right away. This video program is a fun and exciting way to teach kids grades K-5 how to take care of their smiles, and includes two original songs by the Sugar Free Allstars that will have them singing and dancing along.
To access the Smiley O’Riley video program for your school, church or daycare, click below and fill out the form in its completion.
Get Started Here!
Smiley Through the Years
While we all know Smiley O’Riley, what you may not realize is that his origin story began with a dog and a dental hygienist. Linda Bryant, a retired Dental Depot hygienist, began the program by visiting Oklahoma City schoolchildren with a special puppet – Doogan the Dog.
Linda would tell the students a story about how Doogan had an accident that broke his front tooth, and how he had to see the dentist. She would use the story to teach the children what they could do to keep their smiles healthy and strong.
Soon enough, Linda’s educational visits became the Smiley O’Riley educational program, complete with a railroad engineer costume, a colorful personality, educational magic show, and even dental hygiene kits we like to call Smiley bags. Over the years, Smiley O’Riley — affectionately known as Dental Depot’s Clown Conductor — has been played by several different team members with hearts of gold — and fairly decent juggling skills.
While Smiley O’Riley might not be doing his presentations in person anymore, we hope that you and your students enjoy our video presentation. Good overall health begins with the mouth, and children deserve to have the tools and the know-how to take care of their smiles throughout their lives.
