The Florida Department of Health in Lake County will be sponsoring their annual Give Kids A Smile® events to provide underserved children with free dental services. The events will be held at the following two (2) locations (Appointments only):
Friday, June 7, 2019
Florida Department of Health Clermont
875 Oakley Seaver Drive, Clermont FL (352) 989-9001
Friday, June 14, 2019
Florida Department of Health Fruitland Park
3261 US Hwy 441/27 Suite F1, Fruitland Park, FL (352) 360-6602
Nearly one in four children under the age of five already have cavities, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many children enrolled in Medicaid receive no dental services throughout the year.
Give Kids A Smile is held annually to:
- Provide free, easily accessible dental services to qualifying individuals.
- Raise awareness of the epidemic of untreated dental disease occurring locally and nationally and create local public and private partnerships to increase access to oral health care to solve this crisis.
The Florida Dental Association has been hosting Give Kids A Smile events for several years in the community as a way to provide free dental care to local children who desperately need it.
The ADA Foundation’s Give Kids A Smile program was launched nationally in 2003 as a way for dentists to join with others in the community to provide dental services to underserved children. Each year, about 350,000 to 400,000 children benefit from more than 1,500 events, all because of the efforts of 40,000 or more annual volunteers nationwide.
The high volume of patients participating in charitable events like Give Kids A Smile highlights a clear gap between those with and without good dental health. Considering that oral health is connected to total health, financial barriers to care should be of major concern to the leaders of our state.
For more information about Give Kids A Smile events, visit adafoundation.org/givekidsasmile. To learn more about proposed solutions to the dental crisis, visit http://lake.floridahealth.gov/ and ADA.org/action.
