Teething
Good news for children who can't afford dental care:
Family Care Health Centers (FCHC) recently received a $268,460 grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) to provide dental health services to school-aged children who receive Medicaid or who qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. The four-year grant will support FCHC’s "Chasing Away Decay" program, which will provide sealants for 1,400 students in 10 Catholic elementary schools in the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and Jefferson County. MFH awarded FCHC with the grant as part of the foundation’s new Smiles Across Greater MO program
“Besides brushing and flossing, sealant placements is the best way to prevent tooth decay and reduce the need for more extensive dental work in the future,” said Lisa Bush, D.M.D., M.P.H., Chief Dental Officer at Family Care Health Centers. “Our program will be instrumental in improving access to quality oral health services to children in underserved populations.”
From October 2006 to May 2007, FCHC’s mobile dental units will go on-site to the select schools and provide these children and their families with easy to understand information on prevention, identification and treatment of dental
disease. In addition, children will receive dental screenings and placement of sealants on first and second molars that are not already decayed, missing or filled. Through the program, FCHC also will provide re-examinations at the schools to determine long-term retention rates of the sealants and referral services when other oral health issues are identified.
As one of the leading community health care providers in St. Louis, Family Care Health Centers is dedicated to providing affordable and accessible comprehensive primary health care services to the residents of St. Louis. With two locations in the St. Louis metropolitan area, FCHC also works to improving the overall health of the communities it serves by reducing barriers to health care. For more information, please visit www.familycarehealthcenter.org. or contact Karen Berryman Harvey: (314) 481-1615, ext. 1306
I hope this won't stigmatize the kids participating since it is only those that qualify for medicare or subsidized lunches. It's hard being a kid, and kids can be cruel to those that are different.
Beyond that I wonder why this isn't being extended to kids in our public schools, or beyond the 10 private schools. Could our society not benefit from an across the board dental, visual, and auditory health program for all elementary age kids?
Posted by travis reems on Thu., Jul 6, 2006 at 10:19 PM
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