Mobile Dental Van to Provide Check-Ups to Head Start Children during "Give Kids a Smile Day" at The Children's Aid Society's Ea

February 3, 2005

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contacts: Ellen Lubell, 212-949-4938
Emily Crossan, 917-286-1548 or 201-344-5742

When:
Friday, February 4, 2005
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Where:
The Children’s Aid Society’s East Harlem Center
130 East 101st Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues)

What:
As part of the American Dental Association’s Give Kids a Smile Day, a mobile dental van operated by The Children’s Aid Society (CAS) and Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery will provide dental services to three- to five-year-olds from CAS’ East Harlem Center’s Head Start program.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, dental caries (tooth decay) is the single most common chronic childhood disease – five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever.

On Friday, Head Start children will be given dental check-ups and educated about oral hygiene. Participants will also receive Crest Spin Brushes.

Who:
The mobile dental van, a partnership between The Children’s Aid Society and Columbia University, is 38 feet long and features two dental chairs and two attending dentists. It travels to low-income communities, including Harlem and Washington Heights, year-round, providing cleanings, fluoride treatments, fillings, and training in oral hygiene to underserved populations.

The Children’s Aid Society was founded in 1853. It is one of the nation’s largest non-sectarian agencies, serving over 150,000 of New York’s neediest children and their families with an innovative network of services that includes school- and community-based health centers, a mobile dental van, medical, dental, and mental health services, adoption and foster care services for children with severe and chronic medical and emotional problems, teen pregnancy prevention and education.