WHAT: Edgewood Independent School District second-graders will receive care from dental students at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio during a free dental clinic held in conjunction with the American Dental Association’s National Children’s Dental Health Month.
WHEN: 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, Feb. 13
WHERE: The Dental Clinic is in the Dental School building on the Health Science Center’s Joe R. and
Teresa Lozano Long Campus, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive
WHO: Several hundred Edgewood ISD second-graders will receive dental examinations and protective sealants or fluoride rinses during the clinic.
Media will be able to interview Health Science Center faculty and dental students about the importance of good oral health practices, and parents, children and representatives of Edgewood ISD regarding the dental clinic.
DETAILS: In February 2008, about 700 children were evaluated on two days at the Health Science Center Dental Clinic and 60 were referred to dentists in community health clinics for urgent care. This is the eighth year of the local partnership between the Health Science Center, Methodist Healthcare Ministries and the Edgewood ISD. The Health Science Center donates the professional dental services and Methodist Healthcare Ministries underwrites the cost of materials and the bus transportation for the children.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $668 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $15.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 23,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.