CHILDREN’S DENTAL PROGRAM MONEYS

I am the Senate sponsor of this House bill sponsored by Representative Jerry Frangas. The bill allows state funding to go to the Children’s Dental Plan Cash Fund from the state General Fund (GF). It originally appropriated about $250,000 from the GF, but with the state’s budgetary fiscal shortfall, that was removed in the House.

The program is currently funded only with federal money. It serves about 5,000 2^nd graders who have no dental insurance; with the additional funding, it would have served an additional 3,000 more. The bill makes it possible to appropriate money from the General Fund as soon as it is available, although that may not be for a year or two.

The Children’s Dental Plan allows eligible children to receive a dental screening and have sealants put on their teeth. It serves 2^nd graders because they are at the age when molars first begin to grow. The sealants have been found to prevent tooth decay for about 5 years. Prevention of tooth decay contributes to better student attendance and achievement. In fact, it can save children’s lives (there has been at least one case of a student in the U.S. who died as a result of untreated tooth decay causing a serious infection).