News & Media

February, 2004

Area Dentist Team Up With St. Joseph Hospital

Local Rhode Island dentists joined colleagues across the country on February 6th in providing free services to underserved children at St. Joseph Hospital for Specialty Care's Pediatric Dental Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The dentists volunteered their time and talents to provide cleanings to more than 40 kids as part of the American Dental Association's national awareness campaign on access to oral health: "Give Kids a Smile".

Five dentists, who operate their own practices and already provide a level of charitable care, felt this was another opportunity to treat more needy children and to help bring attention to the important issue of increasing access to oral health care for underserved kids.

The Pediatric Dental Center at St. Joseph Hospital is the state's largest dental program treating more than 10,000 uninsured and underinsured children each year. The center also operates Providence Smiles and Pawtucket Smiles, model dental sealant and education programs serving public school children in those communities. The hospital also operates the Pawtucket Dental Center and the state's only pediatric dental residency program.

St. Joseph Hospital for Specialty Care is affiliated with Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, divisions of St. Joseph Health Services of RI

Photo: Local dentists pose with some of the patients they treated at St. Joseph Hospital's Pediatric Dental Center during national Give Kids A Smile Day.