Never Too Early: FirstHealth Remains Committed to Children’s Dental Care
| Date Posted: 1/22/2020
FirstHealth of the Carolinas has been committed to brightening smiles in the Sandhills for more than 20 years.
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Sharon Nicholson Harrell, DDS, MPH, FAGD |
In February, during National Children’s Dental Health Month, FirstHealth Dental Care encourages parents to think ahead about the care their children will need from the time they cut their first tooth until they start getting loose a few years later.
“Children’s teeth are meant to last a lifetime, and a healthy smile is important to a child’s self-esteem,” Sharon Nicholson Harrell, DDS, MPH, FAGD, director of FirstHealth’s dental care program, said. “With proper care, a balanced diet and regular dental visits, their teeth can remain healthy and strong.”
FirstHealth has provided dental care to more than 28,000 underserved children in Moore, Montgomery and Hoke counties since 1998. Dentists and staff care for children from birth to 21 years who receive Medicaid, Health Choice or are uninsured and qualify by income level. About 70 percent of the children seen during the program’s first year of operation had either never seen a dentist at all or hadn’t been to the dentist in more than a year.
During a first visit, dentists and staff will also educate parents about how to help children develop good dental habits at an early age. Services provided at FirstHealth Dental Care for children include:
- Exams
- Cleaning
- Silver and white fillings
- Extractions
- Spacers
- Sealants
- Fluoride varnish
FirstHealth Dental Care offices are in Southern Pines and in two school-based facilities in Montgomery County – East Middle School in Biscoe and West Middle School in Mt. Gilead. For more information or to make an appointment, call (910) 692-5111.
