The Duke Endowment Awards $430,000 School-Based Oral Health Expansion Program Grant to the Alamance County Children’s Dental Health Center

BURLINGTON – The Alamance County Children’s Dental Health Center received a $430,000 School-Based Oral Health Expansion grant from The Duke Endowment to provide on-site dental health services in the elementary schools of Alamance-Burlington School System. These services will include classroom education, examinations, x-rays, prophys, fluoride, sealants, amalgam fillings, and case management. For more advanced cases, children will be referred to the Alamance County Children’s Dental Health Center office located at 1914 McKinney Street in Burlington or to a pediatric dental health specialist.

“School-based programs are designed to remove barriers by meeting children where they spend much of their days and to help ensure they are healthy, pain-free, and ready to learn,” said Stacy Warren, program officer for health care at The Duke Endowment. “We are proud to support Alamance County Children’s Dental Health Center in expanding dental care for children living in rural and underserved areas with few or no treatment options.”

The grants are part of a multi-year initiative to address oral health in the state, with an early focus on school-aged children. To learn more about the School-based Oral Health Expansion Program, please visit https://dukeendowment.org/our-work/supporting-oral-health. The Duke Endowment is working with partners throughout North Carolina and South Carolina to develop an initiative to improve oral health in the Carolinas. This multi-year initiative will help health departments, safety-net providers and non-profit organizations expand dental services into rural and underserved schools to ensure that all children receive dental care.

The goals of this initiative are to:

• improve access to preventative and restorative dental care for school-aged children
• improve meaningful oral health outcomes for school-aged children
• proliferate school-based programs that have viable business plans that lead to sustainability

The Alamance County Children’s Dental Health Center offers a variety of oral health treatments including cleanings, fluoride treatment, infant oral care, nutrition counseling, extractions and emergency treatment up to the age of 21 years old. They currently serve 3,500 to 4,000 children annually.

The grants are part of a multi-year initiative to address oral health in the state, with an early focus on school-aged children. To learn more about the School-based Oral Health Expansion Program, please visit https://dukeendowment.org/our-work/supporting-oral-health. The Duke Endowment is working with partners throughout North Carolina and South Carolina to develop an initiative to improve oral health in the Carolinas. This multi-year initiative will help health departments, safety-net providers and non-profit organizations expand dental services into rural and underserved schools to ensure that all children receive dental care.

The goals of this initiative are to:

• improve access to preventative and restorative dental care for school-aged children
• improve meaningful oral health outcomes for school-aged children
• proliferate school-based programs that have viable business plans that lead to sustainability

The Alamance County Children’s Dental Health Center offers a variety of oral health treatments including cleanings, fluoride treatment, infant oral care, nutrition counseling, extractions and emergency treatment up to the age of 21 years old. They currently serve 3,500 to 4,000 children annually.