ACS Sponsors Dental Outreach Initiative in Tupelo, Miss.
15 November 2007 - 9:23PM
PR Newswire (US)
Tupelo children to benefit from free dental screening on Nov. 16,
2007 DALLAS, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As part of its
nationwide Dental Outreach Initiative, Affiliated Computer
Services, Inc. (ACS) will sponsor free dental education and
screening for children in Tupelo, Miss., on Friday, Nov. 16. The
event will be held at Lawhon Elementary School, 140 Lake Street in
Tupelo, starting at 9:00 a.m. The program, conducted in partnership
with the Mississippi Dental Society, provides free dental education
and screenings to underserved children throughout the state. ACS
launched the initiative in November 2006 with a goal of educating
and screening 3,000 children in Mississippi. Previous state
screenings were held in Meridian and Gulfport. The Dental Outreach
Initiative serves children in five states and the District of
Columbia. "As corporate residents of Mississippi, we are concerned
about the health and well-being of our neediest children," said
Doug Tomlin, ACS executive account manager, Mississippi Medicaid
Project. "Together with our partners, we hope to teach these
children that practicing good dental hygiene will have a profound
impact on their health for years to come." The ACS Dental
Initiative provides free dental screenings and education seminars
on dental hygiene by licensed professionals. To reinforce what they
learn during the seminars, students receive a gift bag containing a
toothbrush, toothpaste, t-shirts, and dental education material. In
addition, children receive a screening evaluation and a
recommendation report to share with their parents or guardian. For
many children, the ACS Dental Initiative screening will be their
first dental check-up. In fact, the American Dental Association
(ADA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) state that
children from low-income families are less likely to see a dentist
regularly, and suffer twice as many dental cavities as their peers.
In addition, pain and suffering due to untreated disease lead to
problems in eating, speaking and paying attention in school. The
ADA and the AAP also note that 51 million school hours are lost
each year as a result of dental-related problems. Since the ACS
Dental Outreach Initiative was launched in Georgia in 2004, more
than 17,000 children have received dental education. Along with
Georgia and Mississippi, the initiative benefits children in
Florida, Maryland, Texas, and the District of Columbia. "The ACS
Dental Outreach Initiative is our way of reaching into communities
throughout the state to help Mississippi children have not only
healthy smiles, but healthy futures as well," said Tomlin. ACS, a
global FORTUNE 500 company with 62,000 people supporting client
operations reaching more than 100 countries, provides business
process outsourcing and information technology solutions to
world-class commercial and government clients. The company's Class
A common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol "ACS." ACS makes technology work. Visit ACS on the Internet
at http://www.acs-inc.com/. DATASOURCE: Affiliated Computer
Services, Inc. CONTACT: Andy Wilson, Director Corporate
Communications of Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.,
+1-214-841-8004, Web site: http://www.acs-inc.com/
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