;)
At age six, Claudia Gil sees a dentist for the first time. She suffers from the pain of having 13 cavities and one abscessed tooth that required immediate attention. Her dentist, Dr. Jack Morrow, explains the diagnosis to Claudia’s mother.“This is the infection up in the bone and its surrounding the permanent tooth," said Dr. Jack Morrow of the Save a Smile program. "That’s why we need to get this treated real quickly so that the infection won’t damage that permanent tooth.”
;)
Dr. Dale Martin, also of the Save a Smile Program, said, "We let schools know that we’re here, that we can be of assistance. And we can get these kids in and hopefully keep them from being in too much pain.”Dentists such as Dr. Dale Martin and Dr. Morrow diagnose and treat young patients for free. They are among 32 dentists in the Fort Worth area who participate in a new program called “Save A Smile.”
Leading the program is Dr. Tonya Fuqua of Southlake. “The Save A Smile mission is to keep children cavity free and in school,” said Dr. Fuqua. “We go in and we screen all elementary children.”
So far, Save A Smile has screened almost five thousand children. Dentists found 500 young students who had multiple cavities.
“So many kids have dental pain, dental problems. It’s the largest cause of absenteeism in the schools,” said Ginny Hickman.
Cook Children’s Medical Center supports Save A Smile. So do school nurses who work with a group called Communities in Schools.
“Many of these children have not seen a dentist before,” Hickman added.
;)
Dr. Morrow was successful in relieving young Claudia’s dental pain. But it will take several more visits to restore her health.Untreated tooth decay can be so painful that children can’t concentrate and learn. So what’s at stake is not just kids’ health but also their education.
For more information about dental health--visit dentalhealthcheck.org. For Texas A&M Health Science Center, Baylor College of Dentistry, I’m Dr. Linda Niessen.
STORY: SAVE A SMILE
SCRIPT # 488
WEBDATE: APRIL 14, 2008
DHC #21 Timecode: 21:05 sovt: 1:31
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