19
Volume1 Issue4
|
N
ews and
E
vents
“Goodoral health is an important
component of goodoverall health.
That’swhywehave taken important
steps to increaseaccess to freedental
services formore kids in low-income
families and tomake it easier for
families toaccessoral health services,”
explainedDebMatthews,minister of
healthand long-termcare, inanews
releaseannouncing theprogram
expansion.
Dr. Paul Andrews, assistant professor
andgraduateclinicdirector in
pediatricdentistryat theUniversityof
Toronto, believes the improvedHSO
programwill help reduce theburden
of decayamongchildren. “Dental
decay inchildren is thenumber one
unmet healthcareneedacross
NorthAmerica, andOntario isno
exception,” he says.
Theprogramexpansion ispart of the
province’spoverty reduction strategy,
which states “breaking thecycleof
poverty requiresprovidingchildren
with services that support their future
healthandwell-being.”Anestimated
300,000children receiveddental care
throughOntario’sdental programs
betweenApril 2012andApril 2013.
“Children suffering from severedental
decay tend tobepoorlynourished,
to sleep less, togrowmore slowly, to
perform lesswell in school and tohave
a lower self esteem than their peers
withgoodoral health,” notes
Dr. Andrews. “Achievinggoodoral
healthwill goa longway inproviding
everychild theopportunity, regardless
of their backgroundor circumstances,
to reach their full potential.”
a
As of April 2014, an additional 70,000 Ontario children from low-income
families are eligible for free dental care under the Healthy Smiles Ontario
(HSO)program.Oralhealthservicescoveredbytheprogram includecleanings,
diagnosticservicesandbasictreatments.
More Children Eligible for
FREEDENTALCARE
INONTARIO
.
.. breaking the cycle of poverty requires
providing childrenwith services that support
their future healthandwellbeing.
PaulAndrews
