20 Years - 11,314 children later.. and counting
The twentieth year for the Eblen Charities dental sealant clinic wrapped on May 17
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with great success! This year we saw 749 second graders and placed, with the help of many volunteer dental professionals, 1,604 sealants. “While it is easy to measure the savings for the families that have children participate in the clinic since the average cost of a sealant at the dentist is $75.00, it is even more valuable to keep the children out of pain from cavities and for them not to miss school time due to dental issues. "We try for the clinic to be a positive dental experience for children and to help them realize going to the dentist is not always a bad thing” says public heath dental hygienist and clinic co-coordinator Deborah Plemmons.
Special thanks to Buncombe County Health and Human Services, MAHEC School Nurses, Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools and AB Tech for hosting us and allowing the clinic to be held in their facility. Through these great partnerships the clinic is available at no cost to the families that participate.
During the 2017 clinic we hit the 10,000th child and 30,000
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sealant milestone. Thousands more have received dental education and evaluations during the program that began after the “Seal the State in ‘98” initiative.
