Give Kids A Smile Dental Clinic Underscores Critical Need in State
Refresh Dental North Pointe an affiliate of North American Dental Group will be sponsoring their annual Give Kids A Smile® event on February 6th, 2016 to provide underserved children with free dental services.
Nearly one in four children aged 2 to 11 years old has untreated cavities in their baby teeth, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many children enrolled in Medicaid receive no dental services throughout the year.
Give Kids A Smile is held annually to:
- Provide free, easily accessible dental services to qualifying individuals.
- Raise awareness of the epidemic of untreated dental disease occurring locally and nationally and create local public and private partnerships to increase access to oral health care to solve this crisis.
This is the first year the event has been hosted in Refresh Dental in North Pointeto provide free dental care to local children who desperately need it. Last year, the event was hosted in New Castle, PA where the practice donated over $21,000 in free dental care to children in the surrounding area.
The American Dental Association (ADA) launched the Give Kids A Smile program nationally in 2003 as a way for dentists to join with others in the community to provide dental services to underserved children. Each year, about 350,000 to 400,000 children benefit from more than 1,500 events, all because of the efforts of 40,000 or more annual volunteers nationwide.
The high volume of patients participating in charitable clinics like Give Kids A Smile highlights a clear gap between those with and without good dental health. Considering that oral health is connected to total health, financial barriers to care should be of major concern to the leaders of our state.
This year’s event will be held on February 6th, 2016 between the hours of 8am to 2pm. The event will be located at Refresh Dental located on 7031 Crider Road, Mars PA, 16046. Parents are encouraged to call us to start their child’s dental care process today at 1-844-793-1251.