Pensacola area children eligible for free dental care March 2-3

Pensacola State College will provide free dental services on Give Kids A Smile Day set for March 2 and 3 on the Warrington campus.

Available to underserved children in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, the college’s dental hygiene students and faculty along with Pensacola dentist, Dr. Neil Simmons, will provide preventive care ─ cleanings, sealants, fluoride treatments, and restorative services ─ fillings, extractions, crowns, etc.

The services are available to children ages 4 to 18, however patients must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

From noon-5 p.m. Friday, children can come in for a voluntary pre-screening to cut down on wait times on Saturday, when the services will be performed from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Some preventive care also will be provided on Friday.

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Pensacola State dental hygiene professors – Donna Mathias, the Margaret Moore Nickelsen Endowed Teaching Chair, and Barbara Tarwater, the Mary Ekdahl Smart Endowed Teaching Chair – will host Give Kids A Smile Day. The Nickelsen-Smart Smiles Project also will provide some of the supplies – sealants, varnishes and disposable equipment – for the program.

The Warrington campus is at 5555 W. U.S. 98. For more information, call Pensacola Kids Dentistry at 850-549-3656.

Sponsored by the American Dental Association Foundation, Give Kids A Smile program was launched nationally by the ADA in 2003. Since that time, more than 5.5 million children have received free oral health services.