Children in southern Illinois have several opportunities this summer to receive free preventative dental services.
They're being offered by the SIU-Carbondale Dental Sealant Grant Program.
Natalie Richardson is program manager and dental hygienist in the SIU-C School of Allied Health. She says the services will be offered to kids ages three to 17.
"That will include a dental exam, which does fulfill the state requirement for children who are entering kindergarten, second and sixth grades for this upcoming fall. We do also provide a dental cleaning, a fluoride varnish treatment. And then for those children that have first and second year molars, which they usually get around the age of six and 12. We do provide sealants on those teeth as long as they have not had any previous restorations or previous sealants or decay."
Richardson says the SIU students providing the care gain valuable learning experience working with children.
"They are a lot smaller, have smaller mouths, they're a little more wiggly in the chair. So, it gives them a better opportunity to see what it's like to work on children because they never know when they do graduate they could end up going into a pediatric office or working somewhere specifically with children."
Richardson says the children receiving the dental care also benefit from not having to go to a dental facility.
"We may be at the Boys and Girls Club or at the Youth and Rec Center in Murphysboro where they're used to coming every day in the summertime. So, it's kind of just right there. We just come in and set up and their friends may be around and their parents can be right there."
The next available service will be offered Thursday at the Murphysboro Youth and Recreation Center.
Other service dates include:
June 30th at the Boys and Girls Club of Carbondale
July 7 at the Jackson County Health Department
July 14 at the Boyston Street Community Center in Marion
July 21 and 28 at the Perry County Health Department in Pinckneyville
The clinics all run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Children are taken on a first come, first serve basis.
