San Francisco Foundation grant will fund dental
health services for children in Contra Costa County

From the Globe Health Desk

Many children miss valuable days at school because they suffer from dental disease, including untreated cavities.
    Contra Costa County health care providers say screening programs have indicated that twothirds of the population, or hundreds of thousands of children, are in need dental care.
    Funded by a new $120,000 grant from the San Francisco Foundation, Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) Children’s Oral Health Program is undertaking a three-year mission to create a more comprehensive system of care for children needing oral health services in Contra Costa County.
    Lynn Pilant, manager of the program, said that of the 600 members of the Contra Costa Dental Society and many more non-members practicing dentistry in the county, only 70 are willing to see the 48,441 children with Denti-Cal coverage on a regular basis. Many dentists indicate that they prefer serving low-income children through other programs that provide families with case management services.
    To address this issue, the program will work on recruiting providers into the free and reduced- fee programs run by the Lebow Children’s Dental Health Foundation of Contra Costa County.
    The Contra Costa Children’s Oral Health Access Project is a partnership between CCHS and the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, whose services will be expanded through the project. The mobile visits schools, county health centers and juvenile justice facilities. Its staff provides preventive care and treatment and registers children with community clinics, which then becomes the child’s regular dental care provider.
   “Low-income children are especially vulnerable to missing school because of dental problems, and that hurts them in so many ways,” said Pilant. “Good oral health is essential to positive self-esteem, school readiness, good nutrition and overall well-being over the span of a person’s life.”
    For more information about the Children’s Oral Health Program, contact Pilant at lpilant@hsd.cccounty.us or (925) 313-6163.