Awbrey Dental Group

It was a privilege to  be part of the Tour des Chutes last Saturday.  Approximately 1,000 riders from all ages biked in loving memory of a friend or family member who is a cancer survivor.  Whether it was 90, 70, 48, 25 or 7 miles – they all finished the race with a smile on their face!  And smiles are what Awbrey Dental cares about – but most importantly, how your smile and dental care relates to your general health.

Our participation for this event was to partner with the community to support this worthy cause with an emphasis on increasing awareness about oral cancer and surviving the disease through early detection.  1 person per hour, every hour of every day, dies of mouth, tongue or throat cancer because it has gone undetected until it reaches late stages.  If caught early, oral cancers have an 80 – 90% survival rate.  To date, the majority are diagnosed in late stages which accounts for the very high death rate of 45% within five years of detection.   Risk factors for this disease include the use of tobacco, alcohol and the newly identified rise in HPV-16 virus (human papilloma virus version 16).  For more information you can read more about this disease at www.oralcancerfoundation.org.

Our goal is to educate as many people as we can about early detection and getting an oral cancer screening exam.  It’s quick, painless and costs less than $20 with our state of the art VELscope machine.  Schedule yours today!

Awbrey Dental Group is proud to be a sponsor for the  Three Sisters Open Golf Tournament  to  be held June 26, 2010 – Aspen Lakes Golf Course  in Sisters, OR, and organized by Quota International of Central Oregon.  The event will be host to 144 women golfers with an objective to raise funds earmarked for 1) awarding scholarships to women who wish to further their education through Leadership Bend and 2) support community organizations and individuals with a focus on disadvantaged women/children and the hearing impaired.  In the past, funds raised have gone to support many community non-profit organizations as well as requests from individual families and children needing assistance and support.

Quota International is a service organization that links members of all ages, occupations and nationalities in a worldwide network of service and friendship.  They are headquartered in Washington DC with over 7,000 members in 15 countries. Quota has a long and wonderful history of assisting individuals and organizations in their respective community.  The Quota Club of Bend has been serving their community for 28 years with a focus on disadvantaged women and children, hearing and speech impairments and overall community service.  Members share their time, talents, resources and a desire to make the world a better place to live.

For more information please visit the www.quotaco.org – the Quota International of Central Oregon website

Give Kids A Smile highlights access-to-care issues. With dental disease among pre-schoolers on the rise, the ADA has mobilized dental professionals in a national campaign to extend necessary care to children and adolescents from low-income families.

Last August Awbrey Dental Group saw seventeen children with treatments that included fillings, teeth cleanings and sealants. All of our patients were referred by the Kemple Children’s Clinic, a practice that provides free dental care for low income families.

Supporting the Central Oregon community by way of helping those who can’t help themselves, the kids, is a privilege. So far we have twelve patients scheduled with a great possibility of more coming. All of our dentists, hygienists, assistants and administrative staff are donating their time to the care of these kids from 8 am – Noon.

The national GKAS day was a few weeks ago but our doctors were on vacation so they elected to hold a day, this Friday, to participate in the Give Kids A Smile program.

Give Kids A Smile is the American Dental Association’s major oral health outreach program, launched to encourage parents, health professionals and policymakers to address important access to health care issues. Dentists, Hygienists and Dental Assistants provide educational materials, screenings and, where possible, free dental care such as cleanings, X-rays and fillings.

“There have been enormous advances in dental science in recent years but among America’s low-income and minority children, oral health is still a critically unmet health care need.” said ADA President John S. Findley. “Though many children will benefit from the services provided through Give Kids A Smile, our concern is for the countless others who continue to suffer from untreated dental disease.”

“Oral health is related to overall health and it’s important that policymakers strengthen dental provisions in public health programs to help put children on the road to good health.” Dr. Findley added.
For more information on Give Kids a Smile, visit the ADA website, or the Give Kids a Smile website.