3M ESPE and Delta Dental of Minnesota are helping support a school-based sealant initiative in Minnesota designed to improve the oral health of underinsured and uninsured children.
The School-Based Dental Sealant Program, which also receives funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, provides children in second grade with preventive dental services, including sealants, within schools at no cost to the schools.
3M ESPE is donating more than 7,000 dental sealants for at-risk children in Minnesota. Delta Dental of Minnesota will donate $17,500 to seven metro and rural sites to provide preventive services for uninsured children who are eligible for the program.
Through this additional funding, sealants and preventive dental services can be offered to more students at participating schools and administered by a local dental hygienist and/or dental assistant.
In addition, Delta Dental's contribution may be used to provide other preventive dental services. This includes cleanings and fluoride treatments to uninsured children enrolled in other grades and also Head Start programs.
The following programs will benefit from the donations:
- Apple Tree Dental (Madelia region)
- Children's Dental Health Services (Rochester/Southeast Minnesota region)
- Children's Dental Services (Holdingford, Faribault, Minneapolis Green School)
- Community Dental Care (St. Paul Charter School)
- Just Kids Dental (Northern Minnesota region)
- Northern Dental Access Center (Bemidji region)
As of 2010, one-third of Minnesota third-graders had no dental sealants on their molar teeth, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. This estimate is even higher for students of Hispanic ethnicity (43%) and students from lower-income families (58%).
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