Background and Community NeedCincinnati is experiencing a crisis in oral health care for children. It is the most frequent reason for absence due to illness in Cincinnati Public Schools. In 2005, their nurses made more than 500 dental referrals, 100 more than in 2004. Many are repeats from year to year. In Cincinnati, 45% of low-income second-graders have untreated cavities severe enough to be obvious in a visual exam. Twenty-five per cent have not seen a dentist before kindergarten; by 3rd grade, 5% have still never seen a dentist. In Hamilton County, the center of greater Cincinnati, only 13% of Medicaid-eligible patients have received dental care.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center sees 2,000 after-hour emergency dental patients annually. Overall, 2% of all visits to the Emergency Departments of local hospitals are for emergency dental problems. The public health clinics can see about 10,000 patients per year, but they have 4,000 people on a two-year waiting list. Many of them are children. The members of the Cincinnati Dental Society and organized dentistry as a whole recognize this need and our responsibility to address it.
The Cincinnati Center for Children’s Dentistry is our attempt to provide a facility especially created to address the oral health care needs of the most needy children in Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The Cincinnati Center for Children’s Dentistry is coordinated and overseen by the Cincinnati Dental Society and a permanent special committee of the Cincinnati Dental Society and will operate out of the Roselawn Lutheran Church in Cincinnati under a special operating agreement between the Church and the Society. Location and EligibilityThe Roselawn Lutheran Church is ideally and centrally situated on a public bus line providing easy access for the community. Initially, the population served will be needy children from the surrounding elementary schools that have family incomes with levels up to 200% of poverty level. After this population has been treated services will be provided to other groups and/or the surrounding community as determined at a later date. The goal is to provide dental care that is immediate and then progress into a preventative type Center. However, it is difficult to determine how long this will take since we do not yet know the level of dental care needed until we begin seeing the children from the elementary schools. In the case where treatment cannot be performed at the Center, Children’s Hospital Medical Center will be available on a case-by-case basis only. Facilities and EquipmentThe center has two operatories with a reception area and business office. The space, design, construction, dental equipment and dental supplies have been donated by members of the Cincinnati Dental Society, dental supply companies, the Roselawn Lutheran Church and individuals within the community. Long Term Support and GoalsSince services rendered out the center are donated, financial support is needed for maintaining the dental equipment, purchasing dental supplies and office supplies. Without adequate funding the center will not be able to treat children on a long term basis. Our goal is to secure enough funding annually to help cover the expenses that are necessary to keep the center open.
