More Than 11,000 Children Can Receive Free Dental Screenings During Colgate’s Annual Oral Health Month Campaign Featuring TV Personality Karla Martinez

The Hispanic Dental Association Joins Colgate to Help Educate Hispanic Families About the Importance of Healthy Habits

PR Newswire – NEW YORK, NY (June 2, 2015) – Today, Colgate-Palmolive, in partnership with the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA), kicked off its annual Oral Health Month campaign with a special launch event at Los Angeles’s Plaza Mexico. To help raise awareness about the importance of a healthy smile, the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® mobile dental van was on-site to provide bilingual learning materials and free dental screenings to children. Families in attendance also enjoyed a mariachi flash mob, live music and giveaways from local radio station, Univision 1020 AM.

“Our partnership with Colgate has given us the opportunity to address the various problems and adversities that contribute to poor oral health among the Latino population1,” said Vidal Balderas, President, Hispanic Dental Association. “Since the inception of Colgate’s Oral Health Month campaign, we have been able to screen more than thousands of children and inform parents of oral care best practices.”

Due to factors such as language barriers and lack of awareness about proper dental hygiene, a large percentage of U.S. Latinos tend to experience poor dental conditions and difficulty in accessing oral health education2. Colgate’s Oral Health Month aims to empower these consumers by providing the oral health tips and information they need.

“At Colgate, we are committed to our goal of making oral health a priority for families across the nation, and believe programs like our annual Oral Health Month campaign help equip families with the right information to implement healthy oral care habits that will last a lifetime,” said Carla Kelly, General Manager, U.S. Multicultural Marketing, Colgate-Palmolive.

Building off today’s event, Colgate will be engaging communities by distributing bilingual dental health information at major retailers and online. Additionally, more than 11,000 children can be reached with free dental screenings from Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures®. Thanks to the dedicated dental professionals and HDA members, who volunteer aboard Colgate’s fleet of mobile dental vans, screenings have been scheduled in the Los Angeles, Houston, Miami and New York metro areas throughout the month of June.

To help encourage healthy brushing routines, Karla Martinez – Colgate spokesperson, TV personality and mother of two – will join families during the following Oral Health Month events in Houston, Texas:

• Saturday, June 13, 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. 
  

  Fiesta Mart
  

  1603 Spencer Hwy
  

  Houston, TX 77587

• Saturday, June 13, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. 
  

  Fiesta Mart
  

  2323 Wirt Road
  

  Houston, TX 77055

For oral health tips in Spanish, follow and engage with Colgate on Twitter @SonrisaColgate.

To learn more about Colgate’s Oral Health Month, visit the campaign’s bilingual website at https://www.colgate.com/app/OralHealthMonth/US/ES/Home.cvsp or call 1-800-468-6502 to find out where free dental screenings will be available via Colgate’s Bright Smiles, Bright Futures van.