Universal Care Dental Group Partners with Health Net and LAUSD Healthy Start to Celebrate National Children’s Dental Health Month

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--While the most prevalent focus of February is on Valentine’s sweethearts, parents are advised to also focus on the proverbial sweet tooth – particularly when it comes to their children. That’s because February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, an ideal time for moms and dads to make sure that sugary snacks, as well as lax dental hygiene, aren’t putting their kids at risk for tooth decay.

“is that youngsters who don’t receive proper dental care can develop into adults with poor dental health. Poor dental health can lead to heart attacks, strokes, premature or low-weight babies, diabetes complications, and other serious medical issues.”

To help celebrate Dental Health Month, Universal Care Dental Group is partnering with Health Net of California, Inc., a subsidiary of Health Net, Inc., and Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Healthy Start Project to host a dental heath fair on Friday, February 17, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at:

										El Sereno Middle School
										Hilda Solis Dental Clinic
										2839 North Eastern Avenue
										Los Angeles, CA 90032

“It’s crucial for parents to make good dental health a central component of their children’s lives,” explains Matthew Tsai, DDS, chief executive officer of Universal Care Dental Group. “What many people don’t realize,” he adds, “is that youngsters who don’t receive proper dental care can develop into adults with poor dental health. Poor dental health can lead to heart attacks, strokes, premature or low-weight babies, diabetes complications, and other serious medical issues.”

Good Dental Health from the Start

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, tooth decay is the most common, chronic childhood disease, with more than 40 percent of American youngsters experiencing tooth decay before the age of 5. To avoid this outcome, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) encourages parents to bring their children to a pediatric dentist by the time their first tooth appears. The AAPD additionally points to studies showing that dental costs for children who have their first dental visit before age 1 are 40 percent lower – in the first five years – than for those who do not see a dentist prior to their first birthday.

As Your Child Grows

As children get older, the American Dental Association (ADA) advises parents to turn their attention to what their children are sipping and snacking on, as this will affect not only their general health, but their oral health as well. The ADA cautions that a diet high in sugar can cause significant damage to one’s teeth. Specifically, sugar-coated teeth serve as a breeding ground for bacteria that, in turn, produce acid – and acid can eat away tooth enamel.

An Added Precaution

“Good dental health also extends to protecting youngsters’ teeth when they’re playing sports, and even when they’re engaged in recreational activities such as rollerblading or snowboarding,” says Robert Shechet, D.D.S., director of dental programs for Health Net, Inc.

In fact, according to the ADA, each year thousands of children and teens injure their teeth while playing football, basketball, baseball and hockey, as well as while engaging in a host of non-team activities such as biking or skateboarding. Consequently, the ADA recommends that a mouth guard be worn for any athletic or recreational activity that poses a risk of injury to the mouth.

As a reminder

The information provided is not intended as medical advice or as a substitute for professional medical care. Always seek the advice of your physician or other health provider for any questions you may have regarding your medical condition and follow your health care provider’s instructions.

About Universal Care Dental Group

Universal Care Dental Group is one of the larger providers of dental services in the state. For more than 20 years, Universal Care Dental Group has had the privilege to serve populations in need, mostly through the Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and Healthy Kids programs. Universal Care Dental Group’s mission is to help improve the oral health of our patients, prevent dental pain and anxiety so they feel more comfortable, and provide access and affordable dental care to low income children and their families.

About Health Net

Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT) is a publicly traded managed care organization that delivers managed health care services through health plans and government-sponsored managed care plans. Its mission is to help people be healthy, secure and comfortable. Health Net provides and administers health benefits to approximately 6.0 million individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare (including the Medicare prescription drug benefit commonly referred to as “Part D”), Medicaid, Department of Defense, including TRICARE, and Veterans Affairs programs. Health Net’s behavioral health services subsidiary, Managed Health Network, Inc., provides behavioral health, substance abuse and employee assistance programs to approximately 5.0 million individuals, including Health Net’s own health plan members. Health Net’s subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to prescription drugs, and offer managed health care product coordination for multi-region employers and administrative services for medical groups and self-funded benefits programs.

For more information on Health Net, Inc., please visit Health Net’s website at www.healthnet.com.

About LAUSD Healthy Start Project

Healthy Start was established in 1991 through Senate Bill 620 – the Healthy Start Support Services for Children Act – to improve student learning and support families. Healthy Start enhances efforts to close the achievement gap by helping children and their family members gain access to an array of learning supports. Healthy Start is designed to ensure that each child receives the physical, emotional, and intellectual support that he or she needs – in school, at home, and in the community – to learn well.