America's ToothFairy asked high school students to submit essays detailing creative ways to get toothbrushes into the hands of children within their communities. Four winning ideas were selected and each contributor was awarded a $500 scholarship, thanks to Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation. Each contributor will also receive enough toothbrushes to carry out their plan! The winners include:‍

Britney Ferdetta is a senior from Burlington County Institute of Technology in Bordentown, NJ, who will graduate high school this month with a dental assistant certification. Britney would hand out oral care products to children during her town's annual patriotic parade.

‍

‍

Rebecca Xu is a freshman from Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences in Avenel, NJ. Rebecca's idea included supplying ice cream trucks and shops with free toothbrushes for their customers.

‍

‍

‍

Fabiola Millien-Faustin is a junior at Bunnell High School in Stratford, CT. She plans to study dermatology in college. Her idea included having a tooth fairy character visit students elementary schools to provide oral hygiene goody bags. Children in middle school would be visited by a dentist to learn about the dangers of sugary drinks, have oral health added to their health curriculum and have access to toothbrushes through their school nurse.

‍Eliana Teitz is a junior at Burlington County Institute of Technology in Edgewater Park, NJ and an aspiring surgeon. Eliana would distribute oral health care packages to elementary schools, soup kitchens and homeless shelters. Each kit would include a toothbrush, toothpaste and floss in addition to pictures of healthy and decaying teeth, and two small toys to be given as a reward after the child has brushed their teeth.

‍

Thank you to everyone who submitted ideas. Congratulations to our winning entrants!

‍

‍