Local dentists will be serving at least 50 local children next month who have no access to dental care as part of the American Dental Association’s decade-old Give Kids a Smile Program.
The program was created to assist “underserved” children in 2003 with basic dental needs, according to the ADA’s website. The ADA will observe the program’s 11th anniversary this year.
“A one-day event like Give Kids a Smile isn’t a cure-all,” ADA officials stated. “It’s a wake-up call. It’s time for politicians, parents, dentists and people who care to find ways to improve access to oral health care. Our children deserve a better health care system that addresses their dental health needs.”
Dentists and hygienists in Kinston and Lenoir County have put forth the local version of Give Kids a Smile nearly every year during the past decade, and they will be at the Kinston Community Health Center on Feb. 1 for Kinston Give Kids a Smile.
“We were trying to reach the kids that don’t have any kind of access (to insurance) to help them pay for their care,” said Dr. Brandon Nicholson of Kinston Dental Associates.
The event will be put on by the Lenoir County Dental Association. The children, who are between the ages of 5 and 12, will receive exams and any needed treatment for free.
Nicholson said the local Dental Association sent questionnaires to the families of children in Lenoir County Schools between the ages of 5 and 12, asking them if their had any dental coverage, through either a private insurer or Medicaid, and if they had a “dentist of record,” among other questions.
About 50 to 75 percent of the families who received questionnaires responded, and of those respondents, the Dental Association found up to 80 children who qualified.
Fifty to 60 of the children will be served during the Feb. 1 clinic.
“It’s a pretty significant need,” Nicholson said. “There’s a lot of kids that need some help.”
He said the goal of Give Kids a Smile is to not only provide immediate treatment, but get children to a dental provider, through either the Kinston Community Health Center’s dental clinic, or an area Medicaid office.
“That’s the (children) that we’re trying to get, that are right there in the middle, the ones that don’t qualify for Medicaid and can’t afford to get dental insurance,” Nicholson explained.
BREAKOUT BOX:
Children who qualify for Give Kids a Smile:
n Are not covered by dental insurance or Medicaid
n Do not have a dentist of record
n Are between ages 5 and 12
n Have dental needs
n Have available transportation and a parent or guardian who can be present
Call Dr. Brandon Nicholson, DDS at 252-523-4151 for more information
David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or David.Anderson@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at DavidFreePress.
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