Dental Industry Leader and Advocate for Individuals With IDD, Cherie Le Penske Joins the Esteemed Board of Directors of America’s ToothFairy
The team at America’s ToothFairy is excited to apply Le Penske’s expertise to elevate awareness of the organization outside of the dental marketplace and channel her passion to improve the consistency of dental care for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in support for their Special Kids Program.
“We are so fortunate to have such a distinguished group of people on our Board who volunteer their time because they are devoted to providing the resources kids need to grow up with healthy smiles,” said Jill Malmgren, executive director of America’s ToothFairy. “When I first met Cherie, I knew she had to join our board. Her passion, energy, and relentless drive to make dental care inclusive make her a perfect fit for our mission and organization.”
America’s ToothFairy was founded in 2006 with the idea that dental professionals can work together to improve the oral health of children who do not get the dental services they need to be healthy and whose oral health literacy is limited. Since then, the organization has helped its program members dramatically increase access to dental services for more than 8.6 million kids and has provided oral health education resources to reach more than 13 million kids and caregivers across the country.
“I am honored to join the Board of America’s ToothFairy because I believe improving the daily oral hygiene of underserved and IDD youth is fundamental to their health,” Le Penske said. “The IDD community deserves greater industry attention and contributions. My intention is to help the foundation galvanize corporate awareness and contributions to expand dental access for these patients, improve their oral health outcomes, and support their caregivers.”
“As a CEO and an entrepreneur, I’ve learned to surround myself with people who actually do something to help those in need, not those who only talk about it,” Le Penske added. “That’s why I’m delighted with work with the team at America’s ToothFairy. They are a small team but have tremendous drive to improve the oral health of children in communities that are often overlooked.”
It was Le Penske’s commitment to improving patient comfort during procedures at the dental office and the quality of oral care at home that inspired her to create what is now Armor Dental’s complete line of soft tissue retraction tools. The tools are also a natural fit for assisting with the oral care of people with physical and intellectual disabilities—a group that Le Penske is a champion for.
“Dental care is the leading unmet health care need for children and adults with special healthcare needs,” says Allen Wong, DDS, EdD, DABSCD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Sciences and Director AEGD Program Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. “We must do everything we can to ensure that patients with special healthcare needs can access the dental care they need because an unhealthy mouth can have a detrimental impact on their overall health. I look forward to seeing Cherie work with America’s ToothFairy to make a strong difference in the oral health of our nation’s kids and especially those who have exceptional needs.”
