LIVINGSTON COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER AWARDED AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION SAMUEL D. HARRIS GRANT TO HELP IMPROVE CHILDREN’S DENTAL HEALTH

Mt. Morris, NY – August 21, 2013 – Livingston Community Health Center (LCHC) can help improve children’s dental care in Livingston County thanks to an award of $5000.00 from the American Dental Association Foundation (ADAF)’s Samuel D. Harris Fund for Children’s Dental Health.

The proposed project will target pre-natal and post-natal participants of the Women Infant and Children’s Program (WIC) in New York’s Livingston and Wyoming counties. Regional Primary Care Network (RPCN) considers the WIC program a vital partner in attaining the best overall health across the communities served. The newly funded program will educate WIC participants on the importance of oral health and preventing early childhood caries. LCHC’s pediatric dentist will hold an in-service oral health educational program for WIC staff, which will then then incorporate the oral-health component into their education curriculum. To complement this education, WIC participants will also receive an oral health tool-kit, which includes an infant toothbrush, a toddler toothbrush, an adult toothbrush, and a pamphlet that serves as a visual aid to reinforce the oral health strategies taught in the program.

“We are pleased to have been selected from among more than 90 worthy applicants to receive this funding from the ADA Foundation’s Samuel Harris Fund,” says Sherilee Callahan, LCHC Practice Manager “We look forward to partnering with WIC to build an even stronger program that will help improve the dental health of children in our community.”

About the ADA Foundation Samuel Harris Fund

The ADA Foundation is dentistry’s premier philanthropic and charitable organization that makes grants available in the areas of dental research, education, access to care, and charitable assistance for dentists and their dependents. The ADA Foundation created the Samuel D. Harris Fund for Children’s Dental Health in 1999 through a permanent endowment established through a generous gift by Dr. Samuel D. Harris, with the goal of supporting community dental programs. Grants of up to $5,000 are awarded through a competitive process to educational and preventive programs that set goals to help improve children’s dental health. In 2013, the ADA Foundation received more than 90 applications, from among which 24 programs were selected to receive a total of more than $114,000 in grants.

To make a tax-deductible donation to the ADA Foundation, please visit www.adafoundation.org or call 312.440.2547.

About Livingston Community Health Center

Livingston Community Health Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides primary dental care.  Most insurances are accepted and for individuals without insurance, a sliding fee scale is available based on household size and income.