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Special Olympics, Inc. and National Children’s Oral Health Foundation: America’s Toothfairy form partnership to help children receive oral health care
(Charlotte, NC—July 14, 2009) Special Olympics, Inc. (SOI) and National Children’s Oral Health Foundation: America’s Toothfairy®(NCOHF) have created a partnership to fight pediatric dental disease and promote overall health and well being for millions of children with intellectual disabilities through SOI’s “Special Olympics Special Smiles”® program.
At the Special Olympics, Inc. office in Washington, D.C., Dr. Timothy Shriver, SOI Chairman of the Board; Brady Lum, SOI President and COO; and Fern Ingber, NCOHF President and CEO met with staff to begin implementing the agreement for the partnership signed by Stephen B. Corbin, Senior Vice President of SOI, and Fern Ingber. The partnership provides SOI and NCOHF the opportunity to work together to improve access to oral health care to help prevent pediatric dental disease for Special Olympics athletes and children with intellectual disabilities. Since its launch in 2006, NCOHF: America’s Toothfairy®, through its growing national Affiliate network of community based programs, has supported delivery of care to over one million underserved children in the US and will aid SOI in securing dental care for children who participate in their programs.
“Our goal with this partnership is to further our work to ensure that our nation’s most vulnerable children receive quality, compassionate oral health care that breaks the cycle of this preventable disease,” said Ingber. “Our national network of Affiliates gives us the avenue to work with local and regional SOI programs to expand access to pediatric oral health care and education for children with intellectual disabilities throughout America.”
“We look forward to working with NCOHF to ensure that children with intellectual disabilities benefit from the same health opportunities that so many of us take for granted,” said Shriver. “We know from health screenings at our events that individuals with intellectual disabilities represent a drastically underserved population regarding oral health. Almost half of our athletes have untreated tooth decay, and more than 1 in 10 are actually experiencing chronic pain as a result. This is a disparity that needs to be addressed.”
Millions of children in America have little or no oral health care, making pediatric dental disease the #1 chronic childhood illness in our country. Children with special health care needs are denied this care for a variety of reasons, including reluctance in the dental community to care for children with intellectual or physical challenges, poverty, a shortage of dental professionals who accept Medicaid patients, and lack of insurance. Providing these children with a dental home is key to their long-term overall health and well-being. Untreated dental disease can lead to serious health problems, school
absenteeism or long-term health issues, so preventive services and consistent treatment are key to give these children an opportunity to live healthier, more productive lives. NCOHF will work with SOI to continue to add more pediatric facilities to the NCOHF Affiliate network in areas where SOI programs exist so that more children can be served.
About Special Olympics, Inc.
Special Olympics is an international organization that changes lives by promoting understanding, acceptance and inclusion among people with and without intellectual disabilities. Through year-round sports training and athletic competition, health initiatives, and other related programming for more than 3 million children and adults with intellectual disabilities in 170 countries, Special Olympics has created a model community that celebrates people’s diverse gifts. Visit Special Olympics at www.specialolympics.org.
About National Children’s Oral Health Foundation (NCOHF)
National Children’s Oral Health Foundation: America’s Toothfairy (NCOHF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, dedicated to raising awareness of the #1 chronic childhood illness: pediatric dental disease, facilitating delivery of comprehensive pediatric oral health services, and eliminating this preventable disease from future generations. NCOHF draws on vast national resources to secure and distribute product and financial donations along with innovative preventive programs to a growing network of not-for-profit community-based universities, health centers, dental clinics, and mobile programs throughout America. For more information about NCOHF, please visit http://www.AmericasToothfairy.org. or call 1-800-559-9838.