SEAL OF QUALITY

The Smile Fairy has every reason to be smiling even more these days.

Last week, the Minnesota Oral Health Coalition and the Minnesota Department of Health honored Let’s Smile, Inc., of Owatonna with a Seal of Quality Award for excellence in school-based sealant programs.

The state organizations give out the top award to identify and highlight the unique strengths and opportunities of school-based dental sealant programs based on the ASTDD’s Best Practice Approach.

“I’m so proud to share that Let’s Smile has been recognized for our dedication to children’s oral health in southeast Minnesota,” said Holly Jorgensen, who is known as the Smile Fairy and serves as executive director of Let’s Smile. “Seeing our team’s hard work acknowledged with the Seal of Quality Award is truly rewarding.”

She is often found dressed in a pink tutu skirt promoting dental care for young children and teens in schools and daycare centers around the area.

Jorgensen said the recognition fuels the nonprofit organization’s commitment to ensuring that every child and teen covered with Medicaid insurance or no dental insurance has the opportunity to achieve better oral health.

As a Seal of Quality winner, Let’s Smile receives a cash award and will be recognized at the 2025 Minnesota Oral Health Coalition’s statewide conference.

Let’s Smile was founded in 2013 by Jorgensen with a mission to address oral health disparities in unserved communities. Over the past 12 years, it has evolved from a small initiative into a “dynamic organization,” she said.

The core mission of Let’s Smile, Jorgensen said, remains unchanged. “We want to improve the oral health and overall well-being of those in need,” she said. “Let’s Smile’s impact has expanded thanks to the support of our community, and we’re dedicated to furthering our mission for years to come.”

School-based dental sealant programs are conducted within the school with oral health professionals, including dental hygienists and dental assistants, using portable equipment in a temporary location, in a fixed clinical facility or in a mobile dental van parked on school property.

Dental sealants are clear or opaque protective coatings applied to the chewing surfaces of back teeth (molars) to prevent tooth decay, according to Jorgensen. Sealants, she said, prevent initiation and arrest the progression of tooth decay by providing a physical barrier against microorganisms and food particles that collect in a tooth’s pits and fissures.

Let’s Smile partners with the United Way of Steele County.