On February 7, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a resolution (S. Res. 369) congratulating the American Dental Association for establishing and continuing its sponsorship of the “Give Kids a Smile” program. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) sponsored the resolution.
According to S. Res. 369, “Access to dental care is a vital element of overall health care and development.” The resolution notes that the dental community provides an estimated $1.7 billion annually in non-reimbursed dental care to low-income Americans. Finally, the resolution states that “nearly 11,000 dentists provided approximately $33 million of free care to almost 500,000 children [during] the 3rd annual ‘Give Kids a Smile’ program held on February 4, 2005.”
Sen. Stabenow said that “this Friday is the fourth ‘Give Kids a Smile’ day, which emphasizes the need to improve dental care access for children,” adding, “Tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease and can be the cause of poor eating and sleeping patterns, decreased attention spans at school, and sadly, children not being able to smile. Children who are eligible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program are three to five times more likely than other children to have untreated tooth decay.”
