School of Dentistry--Give Kids a Smile Day

SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY--GIVE KIDS A SMILE DAY -- (Senate - February 09, 2006)

Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, on February 3, 2006, the University Of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry hosted "Give Kids A Smile Day/National Children's Dental Access Day." This event is part of a national initiative by the American Dental Association to focus attention on the epidemic of untreated oral disease among disadvantaged children. As part of this program, 40,000 dental professionals and volunteers provided free educational, preventive, and restorative dental services to children from low-income families at 2,000 locations across the country. In Mississippi, more than 1,200 children from elementary schools in Jackson, MS, and the Mississippi Delta visited the dental school and the School of Nursing Mobile Dental Van for dental services. The event was cosponsored by the Mississippi Dental Association, the Medical Center School of Health Related Professions, the Medical Center School of Nursing, the School of Dentistry's ACT Center, and the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation. Events such as this raise public awareness of dental disease and highlight the ongoing challenges faced by disadvantaged children in accessing dental care.

I applaud the efforts of the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry, the Mississippi Dental Association, and other supporting organizations for their efforts to combat childhood dental disease in Mississippi.

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