2011 Grant Recipient for Dental Efforts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 28, 2011
Contact
Alicia Ekhoff, Program Coordinator
(217) 531-4538
Amy Roberts, Public Relations
(217) 531-4264 /
2011 Grant Recipient for Dental Efforts
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District was Awarded a Grant for Children’s Dental Health
Champaign, IL – The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) is one of 17 recipients of the 2011 ADA Foundation: Samuel Harris Fund for Children’s Dental Health. This year’s Harris Grant focus was on prenatal and postnatal education programs for parents and caregivers on Early Childhood Caries (ECC), an infectious disease defined by the American Dental Association as the presence of one or more decayed (non-cavitated or cavitated lesions), missing (due to caries) or filled tooth surfaces in any primary tooth in a child between birth and 71 months of age. A total of $84,552 was awarded through the grant; CUPHD will receive $5,000.
“With the support of CUPHD’s Division of Maternal and Child Health and WIC Program, this grant will enhance efforts to increase parents’ knowledge of how Early Childhood Caries can be prevented,” said Alicia Ekhoff, Program Coordinator for the Children’s Dental Clinic. “The main objective of this grant is to provide interactive learning opportunities for the prevention of childhood caries and encourage parents to seek a Dental Home for their child by age one.”
The CUPHD Children’s Dental Clinic located at 201 West Kenyon Road in Champaign provides a Dental Home for children who live in Champaign or Urbana and have dental coverage through All Kids or Medicaid beginning at age one. Children enrolled in the Urbana school district may also visit CUPHD’s Dental Clinic located in the Urbana School Health Center (USHC) at Urbana High School, 1002 South Race Street.
Children enrolled in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, 2nd or 6th grade in the ChampaignUrbana school districts can receive dental care at school by CUPHD dentists and dental hygienists; consent forms for this service are available online at www.c-uphd.org.
For more information about dental care and programs, contact CUPHD at (217) 531-4279 or USHC at (217) 239-4220. Visit CUPHD on the web at www.c-uphd.org.
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