senior oral health

Program expands to add protecting senior smiles

When Dr. Amal Noureldin, clinical professor and director of the predoctoral program in public health sciences, at Texas A&M College of Dentistry in Dallas, envisioned the Empowering Smiles Oral Health Initiative, it was to provide long-needed oral healthcare and education to children and teens in a few underserved schools in Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District.  What she and her dental and dental hygiene students saw was heartbreaking.  “We saw second grade-schoolers with decay so bad that the teeth were gone, only gums were left,” she said. “These are preventable conditions that no child should have to experience, which is why what we offer is so important – access to knowledge and care and the hope that early prevention can make a difference.”  Supported by more than $330,000 in total funding from partner agency Metrocrest Hospital Authority, the initiative provided oral health education and care to 782 students in 13 elementary schools and middle schools in the last two years. More schools than planned.  There’s more work to do. Read More