Black dentists turn Driver tragedy into action for locals
Marian Wright Edelman/NNPA Columnist
Issue date: 4/5/09 Section: Health
The Deamonte Driver Dental Project started by targeting nine Prince George's County elementary schools and relies on principals, school nurses and parent liaisons to identify children in need of help using criteria such as eligibility for free school lunches. Children are provided diagnostic, preventive and simple restorative dental services, like fillings, in a specially customized dental van that pulls up to school sites.
The dentists found 32 children who required emergency services for problems like abscesses, acute gum disease and teeth rotted down to the nerve centers.
With the support of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, the state's Office of Oral Health in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has committed $288,000 for the purchase of a new, fully-equipped dental office on wheels that will be delivered later this year. The Aetna Foundation also supports the Project with a $31,500 grant.
The project's overall objectives are to eliminate health disparities by expanding access to quality oral health care; increasing the number of providers in the dental safety net; growing the number of children connected to a ''dental home'' for continuity of care; establishing a ''Children's Dental Hotline''; and identifying eligible children not currently enrolled in any government supported health coverage program.
What happened to a child as young as Deamonte in America is scandalous, but it's gratifying that a community led by admirable dentists turned its grief into action and organized the Deamonte Driver Dental Project. Deamonte's death also influenced Congress to mandate the inclusion of dental benefits into legislation reauthorizing and expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 4.
On the Net: deamontesdentalproject.org. & www.childrensdefense.org/healthychild
Marian Wright Edelman, whose latest book is, "The Sea Is So Wide And My Boat Is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation," is president of the Children's Defense Fund. For more information about the Children's Defense Fund, go to www.childrensdefense.org.
The dentists found 32 children who required emergency services for problems like abscesses, acute gum disease and teeth rotted down to the nerve centers.
With the support of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, the state's Office of Oral Health in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has committed $288,000 for the purchase of a new, fully-equipped dental office on wheels that will be delivered later this year. The Aetna Foundation also supports the Project with a $31,500 grant.
The project's overall objectives are to eliminate health disparities by expanding access to quality oral health care; increasing the number of providers in the dental safety net; growing the number of children connected to a ''dental home'' for continuity of care; establishing a ''Children's Dental Hotline''; and identifying eligible children not currently enrolled in any government supported health coverage program.
What happened to a child as young as Deamonte in America is scandalous, but it's gratifying that a community led by admirable dentists turned its grief into action and organized the Deamonte Driver Dental Project. Deamonte's death also influenced Congress to mandate the inclusion of dental benefits into legislation reauthorizing and expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 4.
On the Net: deamontesdentalproject.org. & www.childrensdefense.org/healthychild
Marian Wright Edelman, whose latest book is, "The Sea Is So Wide And My Boat Is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation," is president of the Children's Defense Fund. For more information about the Children's Defense Fund, go to www.childrensdefense.org.
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