Consider this: You are a teenager. You have a toothache but can't afford dental treatment. The toothache is causing such discomfort that you are willing to take four city buses across town to be cared for by a dentist willing to see you for free.
Or consider this: You are an immigrant parent of a first grader. Your child has a hurting mouth but you have no money to pay to see a dentist. You save money for a month to pay for the dental care. And now, your child has such a severe problem that the only solution is to extract the tooth.
Toothache by abcd
These stories seem implausible in this nation with the richest available health care. And yet, these are real-life stories from right here in Kansas and what we dentists see and hear with increasing frequency.
This is what has inspired the Douglas County Dental Clinic and other dental professional to open our offices and clinics to provide completely free dental care to children. On February 4, 2011, the Douglas County Dental Clinic, and other dental offices throughout Kansas, will provide free care to needy children on Give Kids A Smile Day. We will be providing exams, cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants and fillings.
Brush 2x A Day, Floss 1x A Day by abcd
This marks our sixth consecutive year of being involved in Give Kids A Smile Day, which is a part of National Children's Dental Health Month. Through the volunteer efforts of the dental community, free dental care has been provided to more than 20,000 children in the United States whose families cannot otherwise afford dental care.
Kansas dentists are committed to providing all children with dental care. This heart-warming and inspirational program is one way we live out this commitment, but volunteerism and charity care alone will not solve these problems.
While dentistry is only 5 percent of the health care dollar, dental care is critical. Research shows that tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease, affecting 50 percent of U.S. first graders. Nationally, more than one-half of children ages 6 to 8 have tooth decay, and one-third of it goes untreated. We can do better than that. Our wish is not just for a program called "Give Kids a Smile," but a solution which would give ALL kids a smile.
Tagged: give kids a smile day, national children's dental health month, dental care, cavities, tooth decay, dentist
Comments
jestevens (Jane Stevens) says…
Do people need an appointment, Ray? How many kids will you be able to see?
Do you have the hours and the address of the clinic?
And, lastly, do you know which other dentists in Lawrence and Douglas County are doing this?
Thanks!
abcd (Raymond Munoz) replies…
Hi Jane! Yes, folks need an appointment to be seen on Give Kids A Smile Day. We started setting appointments a few weeks ago and as of 7:20 this morning, we had all slots filled with 32 children on the schedule. If they all show up, that will be a record number of children seen on GKAS for the Douglas County Dental Clinic!
The clinic's normal hours are Monday through Thursday 8-12 and 1-5 and Fridays 8-12. We are located at 316 Maine St. right across from Lawrence Memorial Hospital. We see residents of Douglas County that have no dental insurance and are at 200% of federal poverty guidelines or below.
As far as I know we are the only dental office in Lawrence that takes part in Give Kids A Smile Day, but I am not 100% sure. We do have two area dentists coming in to help us with GKAS and we would really like to thank them! Dr. John Hay and Dr. Chris Leiszler have been great supporters of the dental clinic and will be helping us out today!
jestevens (Jane Stevens) replies…
Thanks! Perhaps next time, we can recruit more dentists in Lawrence and Douglas County to participate.
Have you had to turn away people who wanted appointments?
abcd (Raymond Munoz) replies…
It's be great if we could recruit dentists all around town to take part in Give Kids A Smile Day! We have not had to turn away any patients, so that's always a great thing! :)
jkealing (Jonathan Kealing) says…
This is good information Ray. Thanks for sharing!
abcd (Raymond Munoz) replies…
You're quite welcome! :)
alm77 (anonymous) says…
pssst. i hate to be *that lady*, but are we still using the word "needy"?