9 Sep 2003
Silent Epidemic Impacts General Health, Attendance
DALLAS— The Kiwanis Wesley Dental Center showcases its expanded mission and announces its new name, The Children's Oral Health Center–Dallas, at an open house 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, 5216 Monarch St.
The center provides free dental care exclusively to students in the DISD. Thousands of district students between the ages of 6 and 18 have received treatment in the clinic's 50-year history.
DISD Superintendent Mike Moses; Dallas City Council Members Elba Garcia, DDS, and Veletta Lill; and Texas State Rep. Dan Branch will speak at the open house, focusing on education and services that promote better oral health for children.
Responding to what the U.S. Surgeon General recently called a "silent epidemic", the dental center will seek to increase public awareness of oral health problems among children and to treat a substantially larger number of children than it does today. Studies show that tooth decay is the most chronic childhood disease, and the single largest cause of school absences in America.