Tuesday, 20 May 2025

Smile Squad

Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (14:27): Our Victorian Labor government’s free dental in schools program, Smile Squad, initiative is continuing to save families across my communities of Pascoe Vale, Coburg and Brunswick West significant dollars every single year. Across Merri-bek there have been over 7000 overall chair visits and consultations. We have provided over 2800 ‍individual service visits in all settings, including mobile and fixed settings, including oral health checks, teeth cleaning, X-rays, fluoride and varnish application, sealants, fillings, restorations, dietary advice and free follow-up treatments. Smile Squad is saving families around $400 per visit.

A big thankyou to the entire Smile Squad team for delivering the program locally, including Melanie van Altena, the director of the school dental program; Emily Blazevski, the Dental Health Services Victoria lead officer; Jonathan Teoh, the manager of dental services at Merri Health, now Holstep Health; Mark Colagrande, the Coburg West principal, who we visited on the day recently; and Coburg West school captains from my old primary school Maggie Hegarty and William Batsakis.