Press Release
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact: Jennifer Kohl 202.225.4289 or 202.225.4025 Trudy Perkins 410.685.9199 or 202.225.4641 |
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Cummings Hosts Free Dental Screening Event for Children
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Baltimore, Md.—Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (Md.-07) hosted an event for children of the St. Francis Xavier Head Start Center and their families offering free dental screenings, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and educational materials regarding dental care.
“It is imperative that we get the word out about the importance of early dental care, particularly among low-income families,” Congressman Cummings said. “I wanted to ensure that these children are of sound health so they can get a head start by focusing on learning—not on a chronic toothache.”
Today’s event originated from the tragic death of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old Maryland boy who died when a tooth infection spread to his brain, and was intended to raise awareness about the importance of pediatric dental care.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dental disease is the single most common chronic childhood disease in the country, disproportionately affecting low-income children. Low-income children suffer twice as much from tooth decay than their more affluent counterparts, and they experience nearly 12 times more restricted activity days than wealthier children.
“What happened to Deamonte Driver was tragic, and I am committed to ensuring that we bring life from his death,” Congressman Cummings said. “We must not allow this young man to have died in vain.”
The event today is just one of Congressman Cummings’ efforts in a multi-faceted approach to increasing pediatric dental care. He also introduced Deamonte’s Law, H.R. 2371, to increase dental services in community health centers and train more individuals in pediatric dentistry, and he fought to include guaranteed dental benefits—including provisions he authored—in the re-authorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which was vetoed by President Bush. Additionally, he worked to establish a partnership between UnitedHealth, the Driver family’s insurance provider, and the University of Maryland Dental School to increase the number of dentists trained in pediatrics.
“In the wealthiest state of the wealthiest country in the world, there is absolutely no excuse for tooth decay to be plaguing our children,” Congressman Cummings said. “I am personally committed to doing everything in my power to increase children’s access to dentists and raise awareness about the importance of dental care.”
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