Dental leaders urge Congress to help boost access for needy children

Washington—There are many ways to improve access to care for low income children, legislation among them, dental groups told congressional staffers at a Capitol Hill briefing Feb. 27.

The take-away message was indeed the multiplicity of voices and approaches offered at the Children’s Dental Health Month briefing, all of them focused on children’s oral health.

Convened by the American Dental Education Association, sponsors included the Academy of General Dentistry, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, American Dental Association, American Dental Hygienists’ Association, Children’s Dental Health Project, Hispanic Dental Association and National Dental Association and three members of Congress, Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

The event included presentations by legislative aides for the two House members and dental organization and Howard University College of Dentistry representatives. Attendees included staff aides for key members of Congress, House and Senate, the Maryland State Dental Association, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services minority and maternal and child health agencies, and private sector health policy organizations.

Speaking for the ADA, Dr. Terry Dickinson encouraged support for legislation yet to be introduced and thanked Hill staffers for legislation passed by Congress, “This legislation is not the complete answer to the problem, but it’s a big step in the right direction,” he said. “Because in the end, the real goal—what people really need—is oral health. Oral health care is just how you get there.” Dr. Dickinson, executive director of the Virginia Dental Association, was instrumental in developing and sustaining Mission of Mercy care project across the country (ADA News Today, July 1, 2008, Dr. Terry Dickinson honored by National Rural Health Association).

Dr. Heber Simmons, Jr., representing the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, announced a five-year contract with Head Start “to provide dental homes for roughly one million Head Start children nationwide.” AAPD and Head Start are partnering at the national, regional, state and local levels to develop a national network of pediatric and general dentists to link low-income children with dental homes, meaning “that each child’s oral health care is delivered in a comprehensive, ongoing accessible, coordinated, family-centered way by a dentist.”

Dean Huw Thomas of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry was the panel moderator.