2008-06-13 20:34:25 -

- Delta Dental of California's children's dental health web site, SmileKids, is one of the winners of the 2008 American Inhouse Design Awards.

The awards are sponsored by Graphic Design USA magazine and honor in-house design, marketing and communications departments for their contributions to their businesses and institutions. SmileKids was one of 500 winners out of more than 5,000

entries.

SmileKids, located at www.keepkidssmiling.com, was launched by Delta Dental in 2002. The site contains fun and easy activities that teach children how to preserve healthy smiles and emphasize the importance of learning good dental health habits early. Games, stories and health tips at SmileKids were created for all children and pre-teens. Health education materials that schoolteachers can incorporate into lesson plans are also online, and a Spanish-language version of the site is available at www.keepkidssmiling.com/espanol.

Delta Dental President and Chief Executive Officer Gary D. Radine said the organization will continue to promote SmileKids given the millions of young enrollees with Delta Dental coverage.

"Our interest is to advance dental health anywhere we can, and we are delighted to harness the power of the Internet and our own expertise to help kids, their parents and their teachers nurture good dental habits," said Radine.

SmileKids is a collaborative effort of the holding company system formed by Delta Dental of California, Delta Dental Insurance Company, Delta Dental of Pennsylvania and its affiliates. This group of companies, along with Delta Dental of New York, represents one of the largest dental benefits systems in the country, with 23 million members in 15 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Delta Dental
Elizabeth Risberg, 415-972-8423
erisberg@delta.org