UF’s Give Kids a Smile event brings free dental care

For thousands of disadvantaged children in Florida, the pain and disfigurement of tooth decay is no smiling matter.

But thanks to the University of Florida College of Dentistry’s volunteer efforts in February, more than 140 children — many of whom have never received even basic oral health care — were grinning ear to ear after receiving $30,000 in free dental care services to repair smiles damaged by tooth decay.

UF dental faculty, staff and students joined community dentists to participate in the American Dental Association’s Give Kids a Smile program Feb. 21, a national one-day volunteer event that provided free dental care to children from low-income families. The ADA recognized UF as one of 40 key participants out of more than 5,000 institutions that took part in Give Kids a Smile, a new component of the association’s National Children’s Dental Health Month, in part because of the massive scale of its efforts.

A 2000 Surgeon General’s Report indicates tooth decay is five times more common in children than asthma and is the nation’s most chronic –– and most preventable –– childhood disease of the 21st century.

Described by former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher as a “silent epidemic” in his 2000 report, dental illness causes children to miss more than 51 million school hours annually. A combination of U.S. Census, Florida Medicaid, and U.S. Statistical Abstract numbers project 2.2 million Florida children do not have access to even the most basic dental care.

“The vast majority of children in this state have great dental care,” said Kimberly Jones-Rudolph, D.M.D., an assistant clinical professor of operative dentistry who spearheaded UF’s involvement in the program. “Unfortunately, 80 percent of all childhood dental disease occurs in only 20 percent of our children, those children who are the poorest and most underserved. Most of these kids never get to go to the dentist because the cost is more than their families can afford. It is shameful that so many children should suffer so profoundly from a disease that is so easily prevented.”

The College of Dentistry is well-acquainted with the issues affecting Florida’s underserved people. Through its community-based programs, the college is the state’s No. 1 provider of low-cost or free dental care to low-income and indigent children, providing care to nearly 11,000 of Florida’s poorest children since 2001.

In recognition of UF’s key role, ADA corporate Give Kids a Smile partners, Crest Healthy Smiles, Schein Dental, Ivoclar Vivadent and DEXIS X-ray donated critical supplies such as fluoride treatment sealants, filling materials, and the use of a portable digital X-ray system to treat more than 140 children.

Community dentists belonging to the Alachua County Dental Association worked alongside their own office staff and dental assistants and hygienists from Santa Fe Community College to treat the youngsters in four clinics at the college in just four hours. These included children in the Florida Department of Children and Families foster care program, students receiving free and reduced-cost lunches at Joseph Williams Elementary School in Gainesville and students enrolled in Gadsden County’s Stewart Elementary School.

The college’s Hialeah Clinic also provided free treatment to nearly 50 indigent children in Dade County as part of the event. Meanwhile, dental students and dentist members of the Alachua County Dental Association took the message to Alachua County elementary schools, teaching 7,500 children about the lifetime benefits of good oral hygiene.

“Working to enhance the lives of children is always a pleasure,” reflects Jay Garlitz, D.M.D., a privately practicing dentist in Hawthorne and co-organizer of UF’s Give Kids a Smile event. “To be a part of a successful team effort involving so many fine individuals from such a wide spectrum of community organizations is an honor.”