Establishing Healthy Habits

Parents play an important role in establishing early health habits including oral health. These resource materials can help families learn about oral health for infants and young children. Make sure your children develop a habit of proper oral care practices that they can carry through adulthood. Guide them and teach them while they are still young.

Screeners

Screeners play a big role in the success of the Statewide Oral Health Needs Assessment: Every Smile Counts screening. All screeners must be certified health professionals. To ensure valid and consistent results, all volunteer screeners must complete the online Basic Screening Survey (BSS) training and score 80% on the assessment.

The 2022-23 Statewide Oral Health Needs Assessment: Every Smile Counts screening is a quick and simple visual screening of your child's teeth. Information collected from the screening will help provide a snapshot of the oral health status of students in grades K5 and 3rd grade.

What is a Statewide Oral Health Needs Assessment?

The South Carolina Dental Practice Act 2003 established the South Carolina Department of Public Health's (formally DHEC) role in coordination of a public health dental prevention program using public-private partnerships to deliver preventive dental services in public health settings including schools that address the needs of priority populations identified by DPH using standard public health principles. Section 40-15-110 of the Dental Practice Act refers to DPH and the delivery of preventive dental services through a public health dental prevention program.

Updated: Jan. 9, 2026

What is Fluoride?

Fluoride is a natural mineral found in water, soil and rocks. Fluoride helps keep our teeth strong and free from cavities. In some areas, fluoride occurs naturally in the water supply, but in most areas, fluoride needs to be added to reach a level that is beneficial.

What is a Central Cancer Registry?

A central cancer registry is a data system that collects, stores, analyzes, and interprets cancer data from a defined geographical area. The basic information comes from patients' medical records. All names and data that could identify a patient are kept confidential.
For every cancer case, the registry includes: