“Each February, the American Dental Association sponsors National Children’s Dental Health Month to raise awareness about the importance of oral health. This year’s theme is Rock Your Smile, a slogan intended to support, recognize, or acknowledge the observance of this month,” said Ocean County Freeholder Director Gerry P. Little, Liaison to the Ocean County Board of Health. He added, “By developing good habits at an early age and visiting the dentist regularly helps put children on a good path of a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.”
Daniel E. Regenye, Ocean County Health Department (OCHD) Public Health Coordinator, said the Health Department works very closely with county schools, school nurses, community organizations and the two Federally Qualified Health Centers in Ocean County to encourage good dental habits and assuring dental visits to the FQHCs to uninsured children and their families. Although in the past the OCHD offered dental services to children grades K – Six who qualified for the Free of Reduced Lunch Program, by referring the children to the FQHCs which have full state of the art dental clinics, the children and families will not only benefit from dental services, they will be provided with a full range of medical services. The OCHD has a full time dental assistant/educator who now provides dental education by visiting schools, day care centers, camps, etc. to provide dental education. Over the years, Ms. Jackson, the OCHD Dental Assistant, has developed a wonderful relationship with our county school nurses and part of her new role is to coordinate dental appointments for children through their school nurses in addition to coordinating dental appointments for others, of all ages, who do not have dental insurance and need dental care.”
Regenye added, “We know that dental care can be affected by many factors which include transportation issues for children, socioeconomic status, and access to dental insurance. . The earlier children receive dental care and education, the greater the chance that there will be less dental problems in the future. We look forward to our continued work with the FQHCs, our schools, local community organizations, etc. in getting out the word about good dental health.”
If you have any questions about the OCHD Dental Program or would like to set up an appointment with Ms. Jackson for your school, camp, organization, etc., please call 732.341.9700, ext. 7624.