Pause Kinder Village
Our kindergarten village started with a simple idea - to provide access to a toothbrush for every kindergarten child.
How did this idea evolve?
We have been involved with oral health promotion within our local community for approximately 8 years, where our local dental practice supplied packs containing toothbrushes and toothpaste to our kindergarten kids.
On one particular visit, we were told that some of the parents had taken the free brushes from their kids to use themselves, as they did not have any toothbrushes in the house. The parents believed that their child's teeth were not as important as their own, adult teeth. This teacher had an idea to keep the brushes at kindergarten for the children to use, so that at least there would be some brushing performed, along with the education.
New toothbrushes were supplied to those children and the brushing routine commenced at kindergarten.
Such a simple idea with such a big impact.
Fast forward a few years, and we had our own children either in kindergarten or approaching kindergarten age. Our hearts break when we recall the story of the kids who were given a brush, to have it taken away from them before they could even use it.
Our kindergarten program idea started simply and organically.
What if we could be involved in providing brushes to the local kindergarten children? Could we build a village to help ensure our kids have access to a toothbrush, and their parents, one less cost, one less barrier?
We believe in good oral hygiene habits developing from a young age. We know the importance of maintaining healthy mouths and baby teeth. We have seen very sick kids who have been hospitalised due to poor oral health.
We know there are many barriers to good oral health, and that the only way to start to break down some of these barriers is to make one small change at a time.
Our aim is to provide oral hygiene education to every Australian kindergarten child and their family, whilst increasing their
access to a simple toothbrush.
How can you become part of our village?
- You can help us achieve our aim by purchasing a brush for a kindergarten child, and for every 1 that is bought, we will give 2 on your behalf.
- You can choose to purchase a single brush, or purchase as many as you would like, and you can even nominate which kindergarten you would like to support (if you have a preference).
- We will contact the kindergarten on your behalf, and arrange for delivery of your brushes.
- Once your nominated kindergarten has received brushes for all of the children in their program, we will allocate any remaining brushes in your order to other kindergarten children in need.
When you join our PAUSE kinder village, you can choose to be anonymous, or you can have your name placed on our kinder village honour board and promoted across our social media and website.
Oral health professionals
If you are an oral health professional, and would like more information on how to join our PAUSE kinder village to help to provide oral health education to participating kindergartens, please email us hello@pauseaustralia.com