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Smiles 4 Miles

Smiles 4 Miles is a two-year award program for early childhood services. It aims to improve the oral health of children, their families and early childhood staff, and can help early childhood services to meet the National Quality Standard. The program operates in parts of Victoria that have a higher risk of tooth decay for children aged 5 years and under.

Registered early childhood services receive support from a local Smiles 4 Miles coordinator, who helps services to achieve their Smiles 4 Miles award by guiding them through the program requirements step by step. Smiles 4 Miles takes a whole-of-service approach to embed the key messages of Drink well, Eat well and Clean well into service environments and daily practices.

Achieving the Smiles 4 Miles award

Early childhood services work through 7 criteria to achieve their Smiles 4 Miles award:

  1. Complete an early childhood survey to assess current healthy eating and oral health promoting activities
  2. Educators participate in a Smiles 4 Miles training session
  3. Develop or review a healthy eating and oral health policy in line with Smiles 4 Miles policy requirements
  4. Complete a menu assessment using the Healthy Eating Advisory Service’s FoodChecker tool
  5. Deliver learning experiences for children around the 3 key oral health messages; Drink well, Eat well, Clean well
  6. Conduct family engagement activities around the 3 key oral health messages; Drink well, Eat well, Clean well
  7. Provide families with information on local dental services and healthy eating initiatives

Local program support

Oral Health Victoria partners with and funds a range of local organisations such as community health services, local council, and community dental agencies to implement Smiles 4 Miles. Our partner organisations employ Smiles 4 Miles coordinators who provide early childhood services with tailored support to promote oral health and achieve their Smiles 4 Miles award.

  • Access Health and Community
  • Albury Wodonga Health
  • Ballarat Community Health
  • Bayside Health
  • Bendigo Community Health Services
  • Central Gippsland Health Service
  • Central Highlands Rural Health
  • Colac Area Health
  • Corangamite Shire
  • Dhelkaya Health
  • DPV Health
  • East Grampians Health Service
  • East Wimmera Health Service
  • Echuca Regional Health
  • Goulburn Valley Health
  • Grampians Health – Horsham
  • Holstep Health
  • IPC Health
  • Mallee Track Health and Community Service
  • Maryborough District Health Service
  • NCN Health
  • North Richmond Community Health
  • Northeast Health Wangaratta
  • Northern District Community Health
  • Omnia Community Health
  • Robinvale District Health Services
  • Seymour Health
  • South West Healthcare
  • Sunraysia Community Health Services
  • Swan Hill District Health
  • Western Health

To participate in Smiles 4 Miles, there needs to be a dedicated coordinator in your local area with capacity to support your service. To find out if your area has a local coordinator, contact the Smiles 4 Miles team.
If there is no Smiles 4 Miles coordinator in your area, we have self-directed training and resources for early childhood educators on our Healthy Little Smiles hub.

Smiles 4 Miles portal

Resources to share with your community

Resource library

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