LANSING - Delta Dental hosted their annual celebration, Share a smile Day on June 26th.

The event was hosted to in support of good oral health and to recognize all of Delta Dental's hard working employees.

This celebration was hosted at the Cooley Law School Stadium where 1,000 employees and their families as well as 1,000 children from local organizations and theirs chaperons we're treated to a night out at the Lugnuts game, including hot dogs and fireworks.

A check for 300,000 from Delta Dental was also presented to the state Department of Health and Human Services to support theCommunity Water Fluoridation and SEAL Michigan programs throughout the state.

Teri Batteglieri, Director of Communications, Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy of Delta Dental explained why dental care is critically important.

Battaglieri said, "Kids miss 51 million hours of school every year due to oral heath issues, may of which are easily preventable and adults miss 164 million hours of work due to their own health problems."

Access to dental care is also a focus for Delta Dental. Battaglieri said there are many places within our state that don't have enough dentist or people with dental homes.

Access to improved dental care will also cut down on the amount of people visiting the emergency room for dental rested heath issues. Michigan alone racked up $58 million in emergency room charges for dental care, which could have all been treated by visiting a dentist.