Hundreds of children to receive free dental care

MESA, Ariz. (Apr. 9, 2009) – Recent reports indicate 43 percent of Arizona’s children have never seen a dentist, and 38 percent do not have dental insurance – numbers that are likely growing due to the current economic downturn.

A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH) and the Arizona Dental Foundation (ADF) plan to help by bringing more than 200 underserved elementary school children from the Mesa Public School District to the ASDOH Dental Clinic in Mesa on Friday, April 17, to receive free dental care as part of Give Kids a Smile®. This is the fourth consecutive year that ASDOH and the ADF have collaborated on the event.

From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., ASDOH dental students and volunteer dentists will provide basic dental services to children including cleanings, fillings, and more complex procedures, all at no charge. In addition to dental care, kids will experience dental education, costumed entertainment, and organized games, including inflatables provided by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Children needing more comprehensive follow-up care will have an opportunity to receive it thanks to an upcoming fundraiser with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Money from ticket sales to a Diamondbacks game in September will help pay for children to return to the ASDOH Dental Clinic at a later date for follow-up procedures.

Give Kids a Smile® is organized and executed by ASDOH students, faculty, and staff, as well as members of ADF, who recruit volunteer dentists from the Arizona Dental Association to help provide services. According to Ginger Froncek, executive director of the ADF, the April event at ASDOH is the single largest Give Kids a Smile® program in the state in the number of children treated, value of services provided, and volunteer participation.

“Give Kids a Smile® is a way that [ASDOH dental students] can focus on an underserved population in our community and provide awareness and care to help treat the most prevalent disease process in children – cavities,” said third-year ASDOH student Erik Smith, chair of the ASDOH Give Kids a Smile® committee.

“ASDOH is delighted to again be a major sponsor of Give Kids a Smile®, providing free dental care to some of the Valley’s most vulnerable children. Our faculty and students alike thoroughly enjoy meeting and caring for these children and their families,” said ASDOH Dean Jack Dillenberg, D.D.S., M.P.H.

Give Kids a Smile® was established by the Greater St. Louis Dental Society in 2002 when a group of dentists set up a temporary full-service clinic that treated nearly 400 children over two days. With the support of the American Dental Association, the program has grown to approximately 1,900 locations and treatment of 480,000 children in 2008.