Affordable Dental Care for Uninsured Kids
July 10th, 2008
Community collaboration provides healthy smiles for uninsured children; mobile dental care unit drives into Littleton.
Affordable dental care will be available to low-income, uninsured children over the course of two weeks beginning Monday. Two nonprofit health care organizations teamed up with local businesses, city leaders and community supporters to bring a mobile dental van to Littleton to provide uninsured children with access to oral health services.
Kids in Need of Dentistry (KIND) will park a 36-foot, state-of-the-art mobile dental care unit at East Elementary School at 5933 S. Fairfield St. from July 14-17 and July 21-24 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Miles for Smiles dental unit staff and volunteers provide routine and emergency dental care to patients who are newborn to 18 years of age and pregnant mothers over 18 years old. Services include dental exams, X-rays, cleanings, sealants, restorative care, fluoride treatments and more.
Bringing the dental care unit to Littleton was a vision of Doctors Care Executive Director Bebe Kleinman. “The goal of this project is to provide high quality, affordable, accessible dental care to a vulnerable population. Proper dental care, along with the Doctors Care model of integrated physical and mental health care, allows low-income families to live a better quality of life,” said Kleinman. “Miles for Smiles is a collaborative effort by the City of Littleton and its businesses to keep our entire community healthy.”
In its eight days in Littleton, approximately 100 children who are uninsured or on Medicaid or Child Health Plan Plus will receive dental care. In its first few days, the KIND staff and volunteers will perform exams and take x-rays. Then children will come back later in the week or the following week if more extensive treatment is needed. Miles for Smiles has treated more than 6,000 children and logged 10,000 miles since 1999.
“Originally, the mission of the mobile unit was to travel to rural areas and provide dental care for children of low-income families who do not have a dentist. Our staff has found that even in the Denver Metro area, the mobile unit is needed for those who are not getting treatment,” said KIND Executive Director Julie Collett. “There has been an incredible outpouring of support from the Littleton community to make this happen.”
The two-week Littleton stop is funded by the City of Littleton’s Youth Budget, Colorado Business Bank, Colorado Dental Association, Littleton Housing Authority, American Exteriors, and an anonymous donor.
Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus are accepted. Uninsured, self-pay patients pay 20 percent of reasonable, customary dental fees. Patients may make an appointment by calling KIND at (303) 859-9624.
Doctors Care is a private, nonprofit organization established to provide access to quality, affordable medical services to low-income, uninsured residents of Arapahoe, Douglas and Elbert counties. In the last 20 years, Doctors Care has served more than 18,000 low-income patients and provided more than $35 million in medical services to individuals who otherwise had nowhere else to turn for their health care needs.
The program offers medical care through an onsite clinic as well as an extensive network of physicians and hospitals who agree to treat eligible patients at significantly-reduced fees. In 2007, more than 4,300 patients had access to medical services. The Doctors Care Clinic provided 6,200 visits to nearly 3,800 patients under age 30. More than 500 adults over age 30 received care from one or more of the 525 primary and specialty care physicians in the Doctors Care volunteer network.
Last year, participating physicians and medical service providers donated more than $3 million in services to Doctors Care patients. For more information about Doctors Care, visit www.drscare.org.
Kids in Need of Dentistry (KIND) is a nonprofit organization that provides high-quality, affordable dental care to children in need throughout Colorado. Since 1912, we have helped thousands of children each year get the dental services they need at a cost their families can afford.
Through a network of volunteer and paid dental professionals, KIND provides comprehensive dental services, including exams, cleanings, restorative treatments, orthodontics, emergency care and specialty services to children who otherwise cannot access or afford care. KIND serves children at facilities in Denver and Colorado Springs, and in rural and underserved urban communities through our mobile Miles for Smiles dental unit.
KIND has operated for nearly a century through generous support from foundations, corporations, individuals and dental professionals. With this ongoing support, KIND leads the way to promote the oral health of Colorado’s children in need. For more information about Kids in Need of Dentistry, visit www.kindsmiles.org.
Categories: Dental News
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