Children from across Upper Manhattan will receive free screenings, treatments, and educational lessons from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine (CDM) faculty and students as part of the American Dental Association’s national “Give Kids a Smile Day” on Friday, February 5, 2016.
Nearly 50,000 dental professionals and volunteers will provide free educational, preventive, and restorative dental services to children from low-income families at 2,000 locations nationwide.
An estimated four to five million children in America have dental problems so severe they have trouble eating, sleeping, and learning. In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General has called dental disease a “silent epidemic.”
The New York event is part of CDM’s Community DentCare program, which will be providing free comprehensive dental screenings for children in need at seven public schools and at CUMC’s pediatric dental clinic in Washington Heights that day.
WHAT: GIVE KIDS A SMILE DAY – Columbia University College of Dental Medicine’s team will be providing free dental screenings, oral health education, and goody bags to hundreds of children in need of preventative oral healthcare and treatment.
WHO: CDM dentists, hygienists, and dental assistants. CDM’s participation is being sponsored by Henry Schein, Inc.
WHERE: Schools participating include: Bea Fuller/I.S. 528, P.S. 178, P.S. 189, Dos Puentes Dual Language School, and the College of Dental Medicine Pediatric Clinic at 722 Haven Avenue.
WHEN: FRIDAY, Feb. 5, 2016, from 8:30 a.m. to 12: 30 p.m. For precise screening times at each school, please contact Leydis D. De La Cruz at 212-305-1045 or 917-374-7620.