Judith Chin
IUSD Will Use NCOHF Grant to Help 5,850 Youngsters
A grant that’s measured in doses instead of dollars will boost preventive
care for thousands of children who participate in Indiana University School of
Dentistry’s service-learning programs.
Dr. Judith Chin, associate professor of pediatric dentistry, has learned that
a grant she applied for through the National Children’s Oral Health Foundation (NCOHF)
has been approved, and will go a long way in the coming year to promote
preventive dentistry among participants of the the IU dental school’s
ever-growing Community Dentistry program.
This grant is unusual in that it is tied not to dollars, but to doses of
protective fluoride varnish that will be donated by the 3M company. IUSD was
eligible for the donation as an affiliate of the NCOHF.
Sandra Boucher-Bessent, the NCOHF’s national program director, informed Chin
that her proposal was approved in its entirety, which means that in the next
year IUSD will receive 11,650 doses of fluoride varnish to protect the teeth of
an estimated 5,850 children throughout Indiana and in four other nations. The
donation is the equivalent of an in-kind contribution from the NCOHF of $26,795.
The grant will make it possible for children to receive one to three varnish
applications, depending on which outreach program they are part of. The varnish
program is directed at children from poor families, children living under
special circumstances, and children with disabilities – all of whom are seen as
patients in service-learning programs by IUSD students, staff, and faculty.
The donation will cover youngsters who participate in a wide variety of IUSD
outreach initiatives, including the school’s involvement in Head Start programs
in Indianapolis and South Bend; SEAL INDIANA; Trinity Free Dental Clinic;
international service-learning trips to Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico;
Give Kids a Smile; Riley Children’s Hospital medical and dental mobile van;
school field trips; Special Olympics; and shelters for homeless persons and
victims of domestic violence.
In many cases, the fluoride varnish program will represent a collaborative
venture between IUSD and other healthcare providers that the school has
established ties with. For example, the service-learning trip to Colombo,
Paraná, Brazil: After IU’s students apply the first applications of varnish
during their visit in June 2008, students at the dental school at Brazil’s
UnicenP (Centro Universitário Positivo) will do the follow-up care and apply two
more doses of varnish in subsequent months. An estimated 400 children will be
involved with this project.
The National Children’s Oral Health Foundation supports innovative pediatric
treatment services and education programs through community-based centers that
deliver critical oral health services to underserved children and their
families. In all, the foundation expects to issue 300,000 donated fluoride
varnish doses to its affiliates.
April 29, 2008