Dental Implants

Utah County dentists will give under-served kids who can’t afford proper dental work a chance for a bigger, brighter, and better smile Saturday at the Utah County Give Kids A Smile.

Local dentists, orthodontists and periodontists will provide free dental screenings, treatments and education for more than the expected 100 children, whose families do not have adequate insurance and don’t qualify for Medicaid.

“Looking into some of these children’s mouthes and seeing teeth look like charcoal and to see a doctor go to work is an experience on its own,” said Jared Hansen, executive director of Utah Give Kids A Smile since 2004. “There are over 100,000 kids who need dental care but can’t afford it.”

With four different locations beside Utah County, Give Kids A Smile is a statewide project that is 100 percent volunteer- based and this Saturday will treat 600 children in five hours, Hansen said.

“We don’t want our donated money going to overhead … buildings, supplies and labor, everything is donated so the kids get every dollar,” Hansen said.

For every $1 donated, $61 of dental work can be done. To help cover the cost of cleaning, Henry Schein Dental, one of the largest contributors for the Utah Give Kids A Smile, will donate more than $50,000 of materials for treatment care.

“If you went to a dentist and were treated, the office would have all the right supplies to treat most anything,” said Anne Myers, administration representative for Henry Myers and state supply council member for Utah Give Kids a Smile for the State Board.

“We are trying to recreate a dentist office for the children and give them all they need to have better smiles,” she said.

Title One schools in Utah are the main target for locating kids that need treatment and relief from dental pain, Myers said. Children with gum disease, tooth pain and decaying teeth have a high risk of self-esteem issues and are at risk of speech problems later in life.

If children come to the event and need more work than can be offered, free vouchers donated by the doctors allow children to visit them in their personal office to receive further treatment.

“Last year, an orthodontist came into the event, saw the need for a child and donated extensive orthodontic work for the child,” said Angie Catmull, event coordinator for the 2011 Utah County Give Kids A Smile. “In 2010, 134 Utah County kids received dental work and $83,866 of dental work was donated.”

Saturday’s event will be held at Utah College of Dental Hygiene, 1176 S 1480 West, Orem. The event is for registered children who have been pre-selected to receive dental treatment by Utah Give Kids A Smile.