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Dentists fill gap in child care
YOUNGSTOWN
Nearly 100 Youngstown schoolchildren received free dental care Thursday and Friday by teams of volunteer dentists, dental residents and dental hygienists and assistants as part of the 10th annual Give Kids a Smile Ohio program.
The program, sponsored by the Ohio Dental Association, was staffed by students and faculty from the Choffin Career and Technical Center’s accredited School of Dental Assisting, and volunteers from the local Corydon Palmer Dental Society, along with dental residents from the Humility of Mary Health Partners general-practice dental residency program at St. Elizabeth Health Center.
School-age children who have no other source of dental care are eligible for the program.
Since 2005, volunteers for the Youngstown group events have provided more than $145,000 in free dental care to nearly 700 area children. A second event in East Liverpool has given more than $43,500 in free care to more than 420 children in a private dental office during the same period.
In Youngstown this year, about 100 children received dental examinations, cleanings, preventive and restorative care, oral-care products and educational materials.
Nearly 70 students from Choffin and Summit Academy schools were examined and treated Thursday and Friday at Choffin, and 33 students from Youngstown’s Volney Rogers Middle School were seen Friday morning by dentists, resident dentists, hygienists and assistants in the St. Elizabeth Dental Clinic on Belmont Avenue.
Most of the children had never been seen by a dentist, said Dr. M. Frank Beck, program director for the HMHP dental residency program and a Give Kids a Smile volunteer from the Corydon Palmer Dental Society.
He said Dr. Donald Brunetti, a residency- program teacher, participated with five residents and dental assistants and hygienists from the St. Elizabeth Dental Clinic.
Tooth decay is the top unmet health need of children, said Dr. Beck. It can lead to infections throughout the body and heart and heart-valve disease, he said.
Volunteering for the Give Kids a Smile Program is a good learning experience, and it is a nice feeling to do something positive for the kids and their parents, said Dr. Anahita Tajbakhsh, a dental resident at HMHP.
Dr. Sergio Nadler, with a practice in Champion, is Give Kids a Smile chairman for the Corydon Palmer Society. He said he is grateful for the volunteers from the dental society and the staff members of Choffin School and St. Elizabeth Dental Clinic who “took time to help people who need it.”