EL PASO, Texas

A program put in place to help curb dental problems in young children is visiting 37 local elementary schools.

The Fantastic Teeth FanClub program, created by the Masonic Home and School of Texas, is giving out thousands of free dental kits to local first-graders.

The kits consist of a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, a two-minute timer, and instructions in English and Spanish about proper dental health care.

The man who organized the event, Nicholas Quarm, says that for some children, getting access to dental care can be difficult.

"Some of these kids come from poor families, and they really can't afford to have a toothbrush. I've had some kids tell me, 'This is my first toothbrush,' and I've had other kids say, 'Wow, now I don't have to share with my brothers, I have my own toothbrush!'" Quarm said.

"Dental hygiene is extremely important; a child isn't going to learn if he has a toothache," he added.

Suffering in the mouth can lead to suffering in the classroom. Studies show that both classroom performance and behavior are significantly worse with children in need of dental care, and a Surgeon General report says that tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease -- five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever.
"Kids tend to eat a lot more candy, a lot more sweet things, it's just natural for them, and of course if you don't get those sugars off the teeth, it will etch into the enamel and actually start cavities and other tooth problems," Quarm said. "It doesn't seem so important; you think, 'Oh, they have another set of teeth coming in' when they're really young, but later on in life we only get one set, and after that, it's denture time."

Last year, the program distributed 2,700 kits. This year, they plan on around 3,300 in El Paso and more than 50,000 in the state of Texas.