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Children's Dental Services

At present there is minimal access to dental services for uninsured patients or those covered by public insurance programs (Medicaid and MNCare) in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, largely because of a lack of dental providers who will see them.  For those with insurance who are able to obtain dental appointments, lack of transportation and interpreters are major barriers to care.  According to the most recent Surgeon General’s report, although most Americans have made improvements in their oral health, a segment of the population suffers from what is termed a “silent epidemic” of dental and oral disease, with poor children being the most vulnerable to this epidemic.[i]  In fact, tooth decay remains the single most common chronic disease of childhood,[ii] and more than 51 million school hours are lost each year to dental-related illness.   

Children’s Dental Services Mission Statement:  Since 1919, Children’s Dental Services (CDS) is dedicated to improving the oral health of children from families with low incomes by providing accessible treatment and education in our diverse Minneapolis/St. Paul community.

CDS is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit and the only community dental services agency Minnesota dedicated exclusively to providing oral health outreach, education, preventive, restorative and hospital treatment to children.
 
CDS has a history spanning more than 3 decades of working with community-based entities like the Minneapolis Public Schools to seek innovative approaches to providing clinical care.

CDS staff members are exceptionally diverse, together speaking at least fifteen languages, including American Sign Language, Arabic, English, Farsi, French, Haitian, Hindi, Hmong, Kannada, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Somali, Spanish, Tibetan and Vietnamese.  Seventy eight percent (78%) of CDS’ staff represents minority populations and 92% are female.
 
CDS provides dental services on site at John A. Johnson Achievement Plus Elementary to help reduce barriers to care and improve the oral health of the children in our community.

[i] A Report of the Surgeon General (2001).  Oral Health in America.

[ii] Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Children’s Oral Health (2004).