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1.16.08 | Dental care for needy children just got easier because of a $210,000 grant from The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation
The Montana Primary Care Association and the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation announce their partnership to improve the dental health of Montana children through grants to seven Community Health Centers across the state. The $210,000 grant will provide the Community Health Centers in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Missoula, Helena, and Libby with the ability to offer increased dental screenings for children over the next three years. The project is called "Get on the Right Track!" Dental exams will be performed by Health Center dentists and the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation will donate $50 toward the cost of care per child. The Montana Primary Care Association is donating staff time to coordinate the statewide project. Children under the age of eighteen without access to dental care because of financial issues are the focus of this program.
The Primary Care Association is a statewide association of representatives from Community Health Centers in Montana. "This $210,000 grant from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation is an important effort to bring kids into dental care," said Alan Strange, director of the Montana Primary Care Association. "It is great to see a local foundation willing to work on this critical health care need."
According to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, the 2006 "Oral Health Surveillance" report on Montana third graders showed that 27.9% had untreated cavities. The survey also found that the percent of children with teeth in fair and poor condition appears to decrease as the family's income level increases. Approximately 14.6% of children in households below the poverty level have teeth in fair or poor condition compared to 6.6% of children in households with incomes above two times the poverty level. The Foundation wishes to facilitate access to dental services for Montana children whose parents have difficulty affording care.
"Oral health care starts at an early age and is vital to staying healthy. We need kids to see dentists and learn to take care of their teeth so they have a full mouth of teeth. We see 18 and 19 year olds who need full sets of dentures," said Cindy Stergar, Executive Director, Butte Community Health Center.
Dr. Shimamoto, Dentist at the Lincoln County Community Health Center in Libby, relates, "I've treated a young boy that when asked about pain, replied, I haven't been able to eat and I am hungry! We completed treatment to get this child out of pain and feeling better. He is now happy! The ability to have access and to care for all children like this is what we as dental staff find rewarding and there is great need."
"I applaud the Washington Foundation for targeting the Community Health Centers to help provide dental care to a portion of the state's pediatric population that would typically experience little to no care otherwise," said Dr. James Cannava, Dental Director for Partnership Health Center in Missoula.
According to Mike Halligan, Executive Director of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, "the statistics are alarming as to families who cannot afford even basic dental care for themselves or their children. One of the primary goals of the Foundation is to help ensure access by all citizens to critical services and our partnership with the Community Health Centers provides an efficient and effective way to bring dental services directly to children who desperately need it."
