Oral Health Grant/Phase I & II
The "U.P. Wide Smiles" Oral Health Initiative is well underway! Since late 2014, our six Upper Peninsula Health Departments are ensuring that U.P. children have access to fluoride varnish, school fluoride mouthrinse programs, learning good oral hygiene habits, and have access to quality dental care. The initiative was launched with assistance from the Superior Health Foundation (SHF), a charitable organization founded in September 2012 as part of the sale of Marquette General Hospital to Duke LifePoint, a partnership between Tennessee-based LifePoint Hospitals and the Duke University Health System. "By initiating these educational fluoride programs during early childhood and in the elementary schools, we will be establishing sustainable programs in the U.P. to combat tooth decay," Dr. Terry Frankovich, a pediatrician and medical director at MCHD, said in a recent press release about the initiative. "U.P. children have a very high rate of dental decay and according to the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), fluoride can help to reduce dental decay by up to 40 percent." |
Superior Health Foundation Oral Health Grant Aims to Curb Childhood Decay U.P. Wide Smiles Program Oral Health Initiative – Across the U.P. fluoride varnish applied to young children ages 6 months to 3 years old to help reduce the incidence of early childhood caries/cavities. |
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