Updated 02/05/2011 05:12 PM
Volunteers donate time to Give Kids A Smile
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BURLINGTON—Each February thousands of dentist across the nation gather their teams and equipment providing free dental care for children in need in their area.
Experts say one out of every four kids in the state enters Kindergarten with a cavity, showing the need for preventative dental care at an early age. So on Saturday Thole joined a number of other parents for the Give Kids A Smile day in Alamance County.
The last few years have been tough on mother of three Kristin Thole. With a 2-year-old who requires special dental care, it is often tough to pay out of pocket for her other two kids.
"Depending on if they have a cavity or not, anywhere between $400 to $800 a year, and that just becomes a lot of extra money. And you do not want to just forget about the teeth, you don't want to skip the cleanings, because it's important,” said Thole.
But the Give Kids a Smile program is now helping brighten the day for many of those deserving kids.
"These are children who kind of fall through the cracks, the parents have no third party means for treatment, and in this economy it's very important because we're providing services that they wouldn't normally be able to obtain," said Pediatric Dentist, Dr. Roslyn Crisp.
Call Margaret Hooper at 336-380-1654
Dentists performed more than 500 procedures Saturday, which included at least 300 sealants for a total of nearly $21,000 in donated services.
"Parents are so thankful, when you think about they're competing with the dollars, to pay for all kinds of just day-to-day necessities. Such as just loans and mortgages, so of course they're so thankful that we're able to provide this service," said Dr. Larosa Pinnix-Bailey, General Dentist and event coordinator.
For a select number of patients the dental care doesn't end here.
"We identify children who have dental restorative needs, the dentist here volunteer to adopt those kids free dental services for them in their offices," said Crisp.
Since starting back in 2003, the program has offered more than $150,000 in free dental services to people living in Alamance and Caswell Counties.