| The first ever Surgeon General’s report identifies a "silent
epidemic" of dental and oral diseases that burdens
some population groups and calls for a national
effort to improve oral health among all Americans.
"In the past half-century, we have come to recognize
that the mouth is a mirror of the body, it is
a sentinel of disease, and it is critical to
overall health and well-being."
Dr. David Satcher, Surgeon
General, (2000)
"To ignore oral health problems can lead to
needless pain and suffering, complications that
can devastate well-being, and financial and
social costs that significantly diminish quality
of life and burden American society. Together
we can affect the changes we need to maintain
and improve oral health for all Americans and
remove known barriers that stand between people
and oral health services."
Dr. Donna Shalala, Secretary
of Health and Human Services, (2000)
"Although dental problems don’t command the instant fears associated
with low birth weight, fetal death or cholera,
they do have the consequences of wearing down
the stamina of children and defeating their
ambitions. . . They go to sleep with it. They
go to school with it. Sometimes their teachers
are alarmed and try to get them to a clinic.
But it is all so slow and heavily encumbered
with red tape and waiting lists and missing,
lost or canceled welfare cards, that dental
care is often long delayed. Children live for
months with pain that grown-ups would find unendurable.
The gradual attrition of accepted pain erodes
their energy and aspirations. . . to me, most
shocking is to see a child with an abscess that
has been inflamed for weeks and that he has
simply lived with and accepts as part of the
routine of life."
Jonathan Kozol, Savage
Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools
(1991)
As verified by Christina's Smile's 17 years
of providing dental care to needy children across
America, tooth decay truly is the most common
chronic disease of childhood. These children
living in poverty with the greatest dental needs
have the least access to care. While politicians
discuss it and organized dentistry acknowledges
it, Christina's Smile continues to provide care
to thousands of children across the country.
With your help we can keep providing care to
these deserving children.
Christina’s Smile, (1990 — Present)
Christina’s Smile
Children’s Dental Clinic
12702 Sherbourne #B
Austin, TX 78729
512-335-1445
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