Tooth Wizard Battles PlaqueMan during February's Children's Dental Health Month; Makes Illinois ...( Educational theater program teaches ...),Health

Educational theater program teaches kids good oral health habits to defeat

tooth decay

LISLE, Ill., Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tooth Wizard is kicking off the New Year with a resolution to help save children's teeth in Illinois elementary schools. And he'll be enlisting help from the pint-sized crusaders at school assemblies across the state during February's Children's Dental Health Month to defeat his arch nemesis, PlaqueMan.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080131/AQTH110)

The two costumed characters are stars of an educational oral health theater program called "Teeth on the Go," which is being presented throughout Illinois schools to nearly 30,000 students. Delta Dental of Illinois (DDIL), a not-for-profit dental service corporation, is offering the program to schools free of charge.

In February, the Teeth on the Go program will visit schools throughout Chicago and the Chicagoland-area, Springfield, Peoria, Berwyn, Harvey, Waukegan, and more. For specific locations, dates and times, please visit: http://www.deltadentalil.com (in the "About Us" section).

According to Oral Health America: A Report of the Surgeon General, tooth decay is the single most common chronic childhood disease, five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever.

"Few parents and teachers realize the magnitude of tooth decay for our children," said Dr. Robert E. Dennison, president and chief executive officer of DDIL. "And unlike many of the childhood diseases, proper dental habits instilled at a young age can virtually prevent it."

Tooth Wizard and PlaqueMan deliver a highly entertaining program, educating children on how to get rid of what the Tooth Wizard refers to as that "icky, sticky, slimy, grimy, sort of yellowy, greeny g
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