CONTACT: Carol S. Weber, APR, Director of Public Relations
E-MAIL: cweber@wda.org
PHONE: 414-431-9625
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –
MILWAUKEE, Jan. 26, 2006 – More than 330 Wisconsin dentists, with the help of hundreds of dental hygienists, dental assistants, dental and hygiene students, faculty and community volunteers, will donate approximately $515,000 in oral health treatments and education to 3,000 of the state’s low-income children. All this will be done on Feb. 3, 2006 and in subsequent weeks as part of the fourth annual Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) national children’s dental access day.
In order to provide care to children with the greatest needs, these services are not open to the general public. The Wisconsin Dental Association (WDA) and member dentists work with the state’s Department of Health and Family Services, local government agencies, public schools, Head Start, Boys & Girls Clubs and other youth and community organizations to identify low-income children in need of oral health care.
Nationwide, the American Dental Association (ADA) expects an estimated 12,000 dentists and 26,700 other volunteers to educate and treat more than 500,000 children during GKAS 2006. Events range from large-scale dental clinics providing free fillings, cleanings and fluoride treatments to groups of dentists delivering care to underserved children in their private practices to individual dentists offering screenings and educational programs in various locations.
GKAS, a centerpiece of February’s National Children’s Dental Health Month, was initiated in 2003 by the ADA and its state and local societies to enhance the oral health of a large number of needy children while highlighting the access-to-care issue for policy-makers. During the last three years, GKAS events have resulted in 6,100 Wisconsin youngsters receiving more than $937,000 in donated oral health services.
Joining the ADA, WDA and other dental societies again in GKAS efforts are Crest Healthy Smiles 2010, the exclusive provider of consumer products, including donated toothbrushes, toothpaste and educational materials. Sullivan-Schein Dental is the exclusive professional product distributor and Dexis® Digital X-ray Systems and Ivoclar Vivodent, Inc. are providing dental supplies and equipment to many GKAS projects. The Dental Record – A Division of WDA Professional Services, Inc. is making children’s dental record forms available to GKAS events in Wisconsin.
The July 2000 U.S. Surgeon General’s report recognized oral health as an integral part of a person’s total health, with the dentist being the primary oral health care provider.
According to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of U.S. children, ages two to nine, suffer from untreated tooth decay. While poor diet and oral hygiene play a role, cavities are caused by a disease called caries, which is five times more common than asthma.
Left untreated, oral diseases and conditions can have painful, disfiguring and lasting negative health consequences. The National Institutes of Health report 80 percent of tooth decay is now found in only 25 percent of children, primarily from low-income families.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (physicians) has called for 20 percent of all health care funds spent on children to be directed at improving and maintaining children’s oral health.
Despite these facts, the Wisconsin and federal governments together spend only about $36 million, or less than one percent, of the total $4.4 billion annual state Medicaid (MA) budget on dental programs for adults and children. This puts Wisconsin in the bottom five states nationally with regard to percentage of MA funds spent on dental care according to ADA data.
Wisconsin dentists donate millions of dollars in care each year to low-income patients of all ages through charity care in their private practices, at community clinics and through participation in projects like GKAS and Donated Dental Services, a partner program between the Wisconsin Dental Foundation and the state for providing oral health care to disabled, senior, poor and uninsured state residents.
“Dentists give generously of their time and services, but charitable care cannot fulfill the oral health care needs of the more than 800,000 people currently enrolled in Wisconsin’s dental MA program,” says WDA President Dr. Constantine Stamatelakys of Brookfield.
Ninety-five percent of Wisconsin’s practicing dentists are small business owners who refuse to impose a “hidden tax” on private-pay patients by cost-shifting losses incurred through participation in an inadequately funded state dental MA program.
The WDA proposes the state provide fair reimbursement rates through a dental MA trust fund created by implementing a fee on distributors, manufacturers and wholesale dealers of soda with an estimated impact of less than two cents per 12-ounce can of soda or Two Cents for Tooth Sense™ (Tooth Cents™). The WDA also requests any trust fund revenue not spent on improving the dental MA program be spent on public oral health education projects.
State Rep. Josh Zepnick (D-Milwaukee) has stepped forward and is serving as lead sponsor of the Tooth Cents™ proposal. Individuals can help the State of Wisconsin make oral health a priority by calling 800-362-9472 and asking their state Legislators to sign on as Tooth Cents™ co-sponsors.
“Oral health is everyone’s business – not just dentists. We need to participate as a community and as a nation. We need to find the political will to solve this problem,” says Stamatelakys.
Established in 1870, the WDA is headquartered in Milwaukee. With more than 2,900 members statewide, it represents the vast majority of practicing dentists in Wisconsin. WDA members are committed to promoting professional excellence and quality oral health care. The WDA is one of 53 constituent (state-territorial) dental societies of the ADA – the largest and oldest national dental association in the world. For more information on the WDA, call 800-364-7646 or 414-276-4520 or visit www.wda.org.
