A two-year, $250,000 grant from the state of Maryland will provide more than 700 Title I elementary school students in Charles County with dental screenings, according to an article in The Washington Post.
The focus of the first-year funding will be to provide dental screenings and oral health education for students in those schools and will expand its reach to Calvert and St. Mary's counties the following year.
The grant will also partially support a pediatric dental clinic, including a dentist, hygienist, and staff, to be installed at a community center that was previously Bel Alton High School, the article noted. A federal grant of $247,000 has built space for the clinic, with 80% of those dollars going to dental equipment. Students without a dentist or from low-income families will be referred to the clinic going forward.
Eventually, organizers hope to turn the clinic into a profit-generating operation that offers affordable treatments, according to the article. Cost will be scaled based on income.
