Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Kaylyn Kendall Dines
(973) 972-7276
E-mail: dineskd@umdnj.edu
www.umdnj.edu

UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School
UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School Offers Free Community Health Programs

February is Children's Dental Health Month

Dental health professionals at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) will offer two free community-outreach initiatives during the month of February in celebration of Children's Dental Health Month. One program will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 4, and the other on Sunday, Feb. 29.

On Wednesday, Feb. 4, from 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m., more than 250 children ages 12 and under will receive free dental care as part of the 2^nd Annual Give Kids A Smile! at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School, 110 Bergen Street, in Newark. Games, clowns and face painting will be provided for the children in the pediatric waiting room. Five additional sites offering this free program on the same day are:

University Dental Center at Somerdale Square
13 Somerdale Square, Somerdale
(856) 566-6969

New Jersey Dental Center at Newton
238 Spring Street, Newton
(973) 383-7001

University Dental Center at Haddon Heights
506 White Horse Pike East, Haddon Heights
(856) 547-3948

UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions
1776 Raritan Road, Scotch Plains
(908) 889-2504

John H. Cronin Dental Center at Northfield
235 Dolphin Avenue, Northfield
(609) 645-5814

The purpose of Give Kids A Smile!, a national children's dental health access day program, is to provide disadvantaged children with free preventive and emergency dental health care including filling cavities, dental cleaning and extracting teeth. This national program was created by the American Dental Association (ADA).

The second activity, the 7^th Annual Children's Dental Health Day, will be held on Sunday, Feb. 29, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Liberty Science Center, 251 Phillips Street, in Jersey City.

About 3,000 children are expected to attend this event, which is designed to educate families about proper oral hygiene, prevention and nutrition. Approximately 150 students and faculty will volunteer at interactive dental learning stations and distribute free toothbrushes. Faculty and students from the Department of Allied Dental Education at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions will host exhibits and demonstrations that promote healthy nutrition and oral hygiene. Carnival-style games will be offered including a bowling game that challenges children to prevent tooth decay and Drill-n-Fill, which allows youth to use clay while filling cavities in plastic teeth.

Liberty Science Center charges $8 for children and $10 for adults. One coupon per family is available prior to the event which allows one child to be admitted for free when accompanied by a paying adult. For more information, call Deb Goldsmith at (973) 972-4710.

Children's Dental Health Day is sponsored by the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School, Delta Dental Plan of New Jersey, Inc., the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions and the Hudson County Dental Society.

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) comprises the state's only three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, school of health related professions, school of nursing and a school of public health on campuses in Newark, Piscataway/New Brunswick, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ also operates UMDNJ-University Hospital in Newark and University Behavioral HealthCare. It is affiliated with more than 200 health care and educational institutions throughout the state.

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