{"id":75567,"date":"2022-09-28T03:20:24","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T07:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/?p=75567"},"modified":"2022-09-29T08:36:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T12:36:13","slug":"reach-out-and-read-connects-literacy-and-healthy-smiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/09_28_2022\/reach-out-and-read-connects-literacy-and-healthy-smiles","title":{"rendered":"Reach Out and Read Connects Literacy and Healthy Smiles"},"content":{"rendered":"

A toothbrush, some floss, maybe a travel-sized toothpaste sample.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not a lot of excitement to be found in your standard dental goodie bag \u2014 particularly when you\u2019re 4.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Add in a picture book? Now you\u2019re talking.<\/p>\n

Through a new partnership with Reach Out and Read of Northwest Ohio, The University of Toledo Department of Dentistry is providing free books to the youngest patients at its pediatric dental clinic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids get really excited. They still get a toothbrush\u00a0and other dental care items, but the book is an extra prize. Our families have been receptive to it,\u201d said Dr. Jaime Snook, a pediatric dentist and assistant professor in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences.<\/p>\n

Reach Out and Read is a national nonprofit aimed at promoting early literacy through medicine. In Toledo, the grant-funded program is administered through the University\u2019s Department of Pediatrics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great program that makes medical visits a little more fun,\u201d said Lori LeGendre, the program director. \u201cIt gives kids something to take home and it serves as a way for the medical provider to talk about the importance of literacy and families reading together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past two decades Reach Out and Read of Northwest Ohio has distributed hundreds of thousands of books through area pediatricians\u2019 offices, including UToledo\u2019s own Rocket Pediatrics offices in Waterville and Toledo.<\/p>\n

With a recent grant from the Delta Dental Foundation, the program has been expanded to include the UToledo dental clinic, which is located in the Jobst Tower at ProMedica Toledo Hospital.<\/p>\n

Aimed at kids up to age 5, the books touch on simple but relevant oral health topics such as the importance of brushing, what to expect at a dental visit and losing a tooth.<\/p>\n

In addition to the books, Reach Out and Read provides dental clinic staff with early literacy talking points and kid-friendly resources for families.<\/p>\n

For Dr. Michael Nedley, an assistant professor and director of UToledo\u2019s pediatric dentistry residency program, the books are as much for the parents as they are the kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids look at it as a little reward, but it\u2019s much more than that. Literacy is step one to success in school and life,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a way for us to reach not only children but parents with that message.\u201d<\/p>\n

Including the UToledo dental clinic, Reach Out and Read of Northwest Ohio currently partners with 24 sites across the Toledo area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through a partnership with Reach Out and Read of Northwest Ohio, the UToledo Department of Dentistry is providing free books to the youngest patients at its pediatric dental clinic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":849,"featured_media":75568,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,38,1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/849"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75567"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75585,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75567\/revisions\/75585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}