Media representatives are invited to cover the following visits to Durham and Greensboro by faculty and residents from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Dentistry. Members of the school’s department of pediatric dentistry will provide dental screenings, preventive care and restorative treatments as a part of the “Give Kids a Smile” national children’s dental access day.
Friday (Feb. 1)
8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Durham County Health Department
414 E. Main St., Durham
Drs. Jonelle Grant, Liz Prada, Rhonda Kearney, Liz Miller, Julie Molina and Jossein Shahangian, pediatric dentistry residents at UNC, will provide care to children in the Head Start program in Durham County. Dr. Michael Day, dental director for the Durham County Health Department and an adjunct faculty member at the UNC School of Dentistry, is coordinating the health department visit.
Friday (Feb. 1)
9 a.m. to noon
Gateway Education Center
3205 E. Wendover Ave., Greensboro
Dr. Bill Vann, a pediatric dentist and UNC professor, and Drs. Stephanie Blumenshine and Antonio Braithwaite, residents in pediatric dentistry, will provide care to children at Gateway Education Center, which serves special needs students in Guilford County.
Give Kids a Smile, founded by the American Dental Association, is held annually to provide free dental care to children from underserved communities and to raise awareness of the importance of access to dental care for children. The 2007 North Carolina Child Health Report Card reports that 19 percent of N.C. kindergartners have untreated tooth decay.
School of Dentistry contact: Deb Saine, (919) 966-8512 or deborah_saine@dentistry.unc.edu
News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415 or susan_houston@unc.edu