Lake County children benefit from dental van
More than 200 Lake County children have once again benefitted from the annual visit of the Access Dental Van.
The van, which is run by the Lake County Office of Education’s ‘Healthy Start’ programme, visits schools in the area once a year to provide children with basic dental treatments, free of charge. The van visits schools right across the state and offers services including screening, cleaning treatments, fillings and check-ups.
The dental van allows children to receiv
e treatment on their doorstep and offers them the care they need free of charge. Since the recession hit, many employers have cut back on employee benefits and many people have been left without insurance that covers health and medical care. Many children were covered by their parent’s insurance policies in the past and are now not covered. With costs rising and family budgets getting increasingly tight, families can now not afford regular dental treatment and are avoiding the dentist.
The mobile dental unit targets children without insurance; according to dentists that work on the van, around 95 percent of the children that received care last week did not have insurance. Without programmes like the dental van and free one-day clinics, these children might go for years without having the treatment they need. Targeting children and offering preventive treatments, such as fluoride treatments and sealant programmes, will improve their dental health in the long-term and protect them from oral health conditions, including decay.
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