Kansas Cavity Free Kids, a project of the Kansas Head Start Association, is committed to improving the oral health of pregnant women and young children by creating a network of prenatal and children’s oral health services across Kansas. The project is sponsored by Delta Dental of Kansas Foundation and United Methodist Health Ministry Fund. Key components of this initiative include:

• providing equipment and community based dental hygienists to programs that have experienced difficulty in accessing care,

• identifying and disseminating a uniform and evidence-based curriculum so that children, staff, and parents are all receiving reliable information, and

• creating a database to gather information that will be valuable in providing further improvements to the oral health system.

This work will be guided by an advisory council to aid with sharing information and resources throughout the 0-5 community.


The most recent national surveillance study shows there is a rising trend of dental decay in children 2 - 5 years old. At least 28% of young children are entering kindergarten with dental disease. The #1 health issue among children enrolled in Head Start nationwide is access to oral health services.


The Kansas Head Start Association has created this project with the knowledge that best results always come from strong partnerships. KHSA will be working closely with the following organizations:

Early learning programs Oral Health Kansas
Safety net dental clinics Community based hygienists
Community dentists KDHE State Office of Oral Health
American Academy of Pediatric Dentists
Kansas Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies


Kansas Cavity Free Kids will provide support and services to targeted Head Start programs with plans to expand and offer its resources to all early learning programs in Kansas.


Having community based dental hygienists providing preventive treatment and extensive oral health education on site will allow children to feel comfortable and safe, preparing them to be a better dental patient. This also offers a great opportunity to identify problems at their earliest stage and leads to referral to a dentist’s care for diagnosis and treatment.