Head Start Children Celebrate Mobile Dental Van's "Birthday" with Performance and Dental Care

February 13, 2007

Learning the Importance of Dentistry - Vital Tool in Fight Against Obesity and Diabetes

Sixth "Birthday" of Van Coincides with Children's Dental Health Month

Contact: Ellen Lubell, The Children’s Aid Society, (w) 212-949-4938, (c) 917-854-6864
Emily Crossan, The Children’s Aid Society, (w) 917-286-1548, (c) 201-344-5742

When:
Thursday, February 15
Remarks: 9:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Dentist Sees Patients on van: 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Play: 10:00 to 10:30 a.m., followed by reception

Where:
The Children’s Aid Society’s Drew Hamilton Learning Center
2672 Frederick Douglass Blvd. at 142nd Street
Harlem

What:
Head Start children (three to five years of age) at The Children’s Aid Society’s Drew Hamilton Learning Center will help celebrate the “birthday” of the mobile dental van, which is operated as a partnership between The Children’s Aid Society and Columbia University. The children will put on a play about nutrition and health; then, children who need the services will visit the van’s dentist.

Who:
* Head Start children of Children’s Aid’s Drew Hamilton Learning Center
* Parents
* Children’s Aid Society representatives
* Representatives of Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
* Drew Hamilton Learning Center staff

Why:
This mobile dental van serves children in low-income communities throughout northern Manhattan; many of these children have had no prior dental care and their parents rely on the van’s services for this care. Oral health is a crucial part of overall health, and children from disadvantaged communities are at greatest risk for grave medical complications resulting from inadequate dental care. The van does not charge for its services.

The Children’s Aid Society was founded in 1853. It is one of the nation’s largest non-sectarian agencies, serving over 150,000 of New York’s neediest children and their families with an innovative network of services that includes school- and community-based health centers, a mobile dental van, medical, dental, and mental health services, adoption and foster care services for children with severe and chronic medical and emotional problems, teen pregnancy prevention and education. For additional information on Children's Aid's health services, kindly visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.

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