Dental checkups required for kindergarten





The California Dental Association has launched a statewide outreach campaign to educate parents, children, teachers and others about the new legislation requiring children to have a dental checkup by May 31 of their first year in public school.

Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law that directs schools to notify parents that children must obtain an oral health assessment and which established a standard for that assessment.

Tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease, more common than both asthma and obesity, affecting nearly twothirds of California’s children by the time they reach third grade.

Although tooth decay is easily preventable, it is a progressive infection that does not heal without treatment. Left untreated, dental disease can have debilitating effects, including chronic pain, which distracts children from learning, and impacting their ability to eat properly, smile and feel good about themselves.

The new dental checkup requirement applies to kindergarteners in their first year of public school, or first-graders if they did not attend kindergarten. Dental evaluations that have occurred within the 12 months prior to school entry also meet the requirement. If a dental checkup cannot be obtained, parents may be excused from this requirement by filling out a waiver.

The new law also encouraged the enrollment of uninsured children into Medi-Cal and Healthy Families.

“It is estimated that half of California’s uninsured children are actually eligible for existing government insurance programs, and it makes good sense for families to utilize these programs to get their children the care they need,” said CDA President Ron Mead, DDS.

Copies of the required forms can be obtained from the child’s school or on the Department of Education website at www.cde.ca.gov or through a link from the CDA website at www.cda.org, which offers dental information in many languages.


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