Every year 500 Nebraska children receive dental care during Children’s Dental Day events held by the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry. Dental care that they otherwise would not receive.

The UNMC College of Dentistry will hold its 15th annual Children’s Dental Day on Friday, Feb. 6 at the college located at 40th and Holdrege streets in Lincoln.

On that day two hundred children from 10 Nebraska communities are expected to attend with the first bus arriving at 8 a.m. and the last bus leaving at 3:30 p.m. The children are from Atkinson, Columbus, Grand Island, Hastings, Lexington, Lincoln, Madison, Norfolk, Schuyler and West Point.

More than $100,000 in services are provided at this one-day event and include cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, cavity fillings, education and emergency care as needed.

Last year $250,000 worth of services were provided through Children's Dental Day events held at the UNMC College of Dentistry in Lincoln, as well as several communities in the Nebraska Panhandle. The UNMC College of Dentistry hosted its first Children's Dental Day in the fall of 2001. The value of care delivered over the past six years by the UNMC College of Dentistry exceeds $1.5 million.

“Children’s Dental Day is an opportunity for the college to exercise both its education and outreach missions,” said David Brown, Ph.D., executive associate dean, UNMC College of Dentistry and the coordinator of the event. “The annual event helps underserved Nebraska children, while providing an opportunity for dental and dental hygiene students to gain more clinical experience.”

While upper level dental and dental hygiene students work in the clinics, many of the first-year students facilitate games with the children, including those that teach good snack choices, how soda pop affects their teeth, what decay looks like and how to brush and floss. Lunch and healthy snacks also are provided and each child receives a goody bag of items, including a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, activity book and stickers.

"This event not only provides badly needed care for underserved children, but also strengthens the spirit of volunteerism among our students, faculty, and staff," said Dean John Reinhardt, D.D.S. "We give a lot on Children's Dental Day but I think we receive even more."

Children participating in the event are identified and pre-screened in their communities by volunteers, including school nurses, members of faith-based organizations, Head Start, dentists and dental hygienists. These volunteers donate their time to identify needy children, provide oral health screenings that indicate the type of care the children will need when they come to the college, and in many cases, come with the children for emotional support and translation services.