On Saturday February 25, 2006, the entire dental community in Manatee County will be working together to provide free dental care to (put number of children here) sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade underserved children from a local middle school. The event will be from 8 a.m. until noon at the Manatee Community College (MCC) Dental Hygiene Clinic at MCC Bradenton, 5840 26th Street West.
The Manatee Dental Society has been providing preventative dental care to children for over twelve years through our annual participation in Give Kids A Smile Day for Manatee County. The Society is pleased this year to introduce an inaugural program that will also include the addition of restorative care to the free list of services. The innovative program will now provide to these pre-selected students free restorative fillings in addition to the previously provided dental services which included complete examination, cleaning, sealing of permanent molars, X-rays, and dental health education. The services will be provided through a cooperative volunteer effort of member dentists from the Manatee Dental Society, hygienists from the Manatee/Sarasota Dental Hygiene Society; dental hygiene students and faculty from Manatee Community College and other volunteers. Funding for the material supplies have been provided through a grant from the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County and through equipment and supply donations from local dentists of the MDS. MCC will donate the use of their facility and the transportation will be provided by The Boys and Girls Club of Manatee.
This is the first year for this dynamic program and it is envisioned to continue annually. Presently the program is scheduled to see approximately 24 to 48 children on six different program days. Two successful program days have been completed and the remaining scheduled days will be in the spring and fall of 2006. Hopefully, if funding for the materials can be maintained, this program will grow and continue through the joint efforts of the Manatee Dental Society, Manatee Community College and the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee.
Here in Florida in 2003, only 23% of children enrolled in Medicaid received any dental service. And only a total of 1% of the Medicaid budget in Florida was spent on dental care. The goals of our program are:
- To provide free dental services to local qualifying children from underprivileged families
- Raise awareness of the epidemic of untreated dental disease in children occurring in Manatee County and across the country and
- Raise awareness of the need to build local public and private partnerships to increase access to oral health care to solve this crisis
According to a 2000 Surgeon General's Report, one out of four children is born into poverty. Children from families with annual incomes of $10,000 to $20,000 have 10 times more untreated dental needs than children whose families earn more than $50,000. Pain from untreated dental disease can prevent a child from properly eating, sleeping, speaking and paying attention in school, affecting his growth and development.
In addition, research now suggests that severe gum disease in adults can lead to increased risk of overall disease, such as heart attack, stroke, diabetes and preterm birth.
Although the American Dental Association recommends that children see a dentist no later than their third birthday, two out of five poor children haven't seen a dentist by the time they start kindergarten.
Last year, more than 35,000 dentists and their staff participated nationwide in Give Kids A Smile Day and helped more than 1 million children. For more information please visit: http://www.manateedental.org/ or http://www.ada.org/.
*Editor's Note: Due to the need for signed parental permission and other documentation, this Give Kids a Smile event can only serve children who are registered in advance. Please do not indicate to the public that the event is open to unregistered children.
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