About Us
BRUSH IS A PROJECT OF MCMILLEN HEALTH
Established in 1981, McMillen Health is a non-profit with a mission to provide vital, effective preventive health education that promotes physical, emotional, and social well-being. Our program offerings are available to students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. Each year we teach over 60,000 people!
HISTORY OF THE BRUSH CURRICULUM
In 2012, McMillen Health developed the Brush Early Childhood Oral Health Curriculum in an effort to change children’s health status and help children enter Kindergarten ready to learn. We advocate for the establishment of a dental home by age one and promote oral health education for all who influence a child’s health status, including parents, caregivers, educators, and health practitioners. Through discussions with regional dentists, we realized there was a need for a curriculum that early childhood educators and home visitors could implement all year long, with support from McMillen Health. In collaboration with the Isaac Knapp Dental Education Foundation, we developed Brush, an interdisciplinary oral health curriculum aimed at low-income children and their parents. Brush provides educational and developmental experiences that improve the school readiness of underserved children.
Testimonials
“I am impressed with the importance of this program and hope to have success with parent engagement while using it.”
— Kathryn, Warsaw Head Start, Indiana
“I now know that fruit snacks are one of the worst snacks as far as tooth decay is concerned. I will discourage parents from bringing these in.”
— Kathy, Claypool Early Learning Center, Indiana
“It is great to bring this to children into the classroom and make it fun as they learn important info to have a healthy mouth”
— Connie, Presby Preschool, Indiana
“Excellent resources, and exciting way to learn!”
— Sarah, Presby Preschool, Indiana