Health department provides dental care for children

Published 10:31 pm Saturday, August 25, 2007

Whitfield County residents on Medicaid and PeachCare should know that the county health department’s dental clinic will still be there for their children, say health department officials.

Two of the three managed-care organizations that run those programs in the state have canceled their contracts with Kool Smiles, a company that specializes in providing dental care to children on Medicaid and PeachCare. Kool Smiles has an office in Dalton at 2111 E. Walnut Ave.

But the health clinic, at 808 Professional Blvd., hasn’t been affected by those changes.

“We are still getting reimbursed (by the managed-care organizations,” said health department manager Cheryl Christie.

“We do children up to age 19, or 21 if they have Medicaid,” said Christie.

The clinic serves children from Whitfield County.

“But if someone from out of the county calls us with an emergency, we will see them,” said Dr. Nancy Williams, North Georgia Health District dental director.

In July, the clinic, which has two hygiene chairs and four chairs for other dental work, served 420 children.

“We are taking new patients,” said Williams.

The clinic doesn’t do root canal on permanent teeth or involved dental surgery, but it does fillings, cleanings and extractions, and provides crowns and fluoride treatments, among other services.

“We are pretty much full service,” said Williams.

The health department gave the clinic a complete overhaul about four years ago, and officials describe it as “state of the art.”

“We’ve got some of the nicest, most up-to-date equipment in this area. We can do digital X-rays. A lot of dentists don’t have that in their office,” said Christie.

Williams says parents should not underestimate the need for quality dental care for children.

She says dental problems are one of the biggest reasons children are absent from school.

“Even if they are in school, if they are in pain, they can’t learn,” she said.