Greetings L.,
My son has Down syndrome and this article was in a recent newsletter regarding dentistry for children with special needs. I havne't taken my son to this clinic but I know a lot of other moms who use it because it's geared towards their kids and as an extra bonus, it's free.
The article has all the contact info within.
***********
FREE Dental
Care for Children
with Special Needs
By Joanna Spahis, RN,
CNS, APNG, Clinical Nurse Specialist,
Down Syndrome Clinic, Children��s
Medical Center, Dallas
Did you know there is a program to
cover the cost of dental care for children
with special needs, including Down
syndrome? The Humanitarian Foundation,
Grottoes of North America has been helping
children with special needs with the
cost of their dental treatment since 1970.
The Dental Care for Children with Special
Needs Program has a unique partnership
with qualified dentists throughout the
United States and Canada. The program
was designed to help eligible children to
receive the best dental care possible.
Since its inception, children have been
treated at several national treatment centers,
including Children��s Medical Center
in Dallas. Through the extension program,
a child can also be treated in his/her community
by a local dentist and/or hospital.
Parents select the dentist of their choice
and the program works directly with the
dental office to process the claim and issue
payment.
Dental services are provided to children
up to the age of 18 years with any of the
following conditions: developmental
delay/mental disability (including children
with Down syndrome), cerebral palsy,
muscular dystrophy, and recipients of
organ transplants. The child��s developmental
age must be at least 2 years below
his/her chronological age. Evidence of
this must be provided by a note from a
physician or results of developmental testing,
such as that done for a child��s ARD
(school program).
For more information, contact Lisa
Ortiz in the dental clinic at Children��s
Medical Center of Dallas, 214-456-
8833, or visit www.scgrotto.com. �N
Newsletter Delivery Timing
The DSG��s goal regarding newsletter
delivery is that every member receives
their newsletter by the first of the
month. Yet we know that newsletters
often arrive after the first, sometimes as
much as 7 days after. We have not been
able to determine a pattern of delivery,
either by zip code or city.
With our non-profit mailing permit,
the time it takes to mail an item is
significantly longer than first class mail,
and timing of delivery can even vary
at the same location from month to
month. We attempt to strike a balance
between the deadline for submissions
to the newsletter and getting it into
members�� mailboxes close to the first of
the month.
The current newsletter submission
deadline is the 7th of the month prior to
publishing. For example, if you want
an item in the March newsletter, you
must submit it by February 7. Moving
that deadline up any further will reduce
the number of items we can list, especially
from other organizations.
Other ways we��ve tried to address
the problem is by putting events in the
newsletter for 2-3 months before they
occur, and we send out event reminders
by email, and post all of our events and
a copy of the newsletter on our website.
If you are uncertain regarding the
details of a DSG event or just want to
re-confirm the time and location, check
our website at www.downsyndromedallas.
org, or call the DSG office at 214-
###-###-####. If you don��t have a computer
at home, you can access the internet on
a computer at any public library.
We regret any inconvenience the
delivery timing may have may have
caused DSG members. We welcome
additional suggestions to improve the
situation.
- Submitted by Kelly Theriault and
Patty Bates-Ballard
