IU Dental School to Use Grant to Treat Low-Income Children
IU School of Dentistry pediatric dentist Dr. Judith Chin is the principal investigator on a grant that will be used in the months ahead by the school's Department of Pediatric Dentistry to provide comprehensive oral health services to economically disadvantaged children.
The $35,000 grant is one of 14 that the National Children's Oral Health Foundation (NCOHF) recently awarded to not-for-profit community, university, and hospital-based dental programs nationwide. The NCOHF was created in 2006 in response to the growing need to provide disadvantaged families with access to the community-based programs for underserved children that deliver the best approaches to optimizing oral health, enhancing self-esteem, reducing student absenteeism, and significantly enhancing quality of life and family productivity.
"These grants bring with them the expectation that we will continue to break down barriers regarding access to oral health services, and provide critical care and preventive education to young children," said Fern Ingber, NCOHF president and chief executive officer. "We are grateful to be able to support so many of our affiliates who embraced this challenge and came forth with innovative ideas and proposals."
As a member of the NCOHF's oral health Affiliate Network, the IU School of Dentistry will use its grant to provide comprehensive oral health care to about 200 children whose families are uninsured and do not qualify for Medicaid.
"We are targeting children of the working poor who are willing but unable to pay for dental care," said Chin. "One child from every school in the Indianapolis Public Schools system will be selected for care by the school's principal or nurse, and others will be referred by Head Start programs, Boys & Girls Clubs, and area churches."
The NCOHF reports that one third of U.S. children suffer from serious oral health problems that negatively impact not only their appearance but also their ability to eat, sleep, and learn. Discolored, decayed, and abscessed teeth are painfully debilitating, and result in severe psychological, social, and economic consequences. A recently released study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 28% of children ages 2 to 5 have tooth decay, up from 24% in an earlier report.
"At this time, when the numbers of economically disadvantaged children are increasing, new and innovative ways to deliver vital prevention-oriented oral health services must be developed," Ingber said.
During IU's six-month clinical project, the children will be treated by students in the dental school's Pediatric Dentistry department. Equally important to the treatment, says Chin, is the patient education component of the program that will underscore the critical importance of practicing good oral hygiene in the home. "Although we'll be fixing the kids' immediate dental concerns, prevention is the key to the success of any program like this," Chin said. "Our number one goal is to equip the children and their families with the information they need to prevent future problems from occurring."
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