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Health officials promote dental program PDF Print E-mail
News - Spring Hill
Written by Chase Jordan   
Wednesday, 15 July 2009 07:00
Kansas health officials are encouraging board members and district officials to participate in a program to promote oral health and education.

Caron Shipley, an official from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, presented the Kansas State School Oral Screening Initiative to the Spring Hill USD 230 Board of Education on Monday.

“Our goal is to screen children, identify urgent needs and refer them to a dentist,” Shipley said.

The program is made possible through a grant from the Kansas Health Foundation and Delta Dental. Shipley mentioned that a state statute is required to focus on students in kindergarten through high school. She said a primary focus is on younger students.

During the presentation, she presented statistics associated with oral health. About 51 million school hours are lost due to dental illness. She said some diseases are infectious and can be transmitted to others.

Shipley said dental problems can affect a student’s ability to thrive in the classroom.

“The first time I went to a screening, I nearly had tears in my eyes,” Shipley said to the board.

She said the program is just for screenings and is a good tool to identify emergency needs. She said a whole class can be screened in 10 minutes.

Shipley said schools in Gardner and Shawnee have participated in the program. Screenings have been performed in 49 counties in Kansas between September 2008 to May 2009. As of Monday, Shipley said 54,000 students have been screened.
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