Dental Industry Leaders Launch National Foundation to Aid Millions of Underserved Children; The National Children's Dental Foundation Set to Address the Neglected National Epidemic of Oral Disease in Children.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- A consortium of senior dental industry leaders today announced the creation of The National Children's Dental Foundation at the Foundation's launch event held at The Chicago Children's Museum. The Foundation's mission is to eliminate dental disease and promote overall health and well-being by supporting and providing access to the best comprehensive prevention, education, treatment and advocacy programs for the growing numbers of dentally underserved children nationwide.

"The lack of dental care and the prevalence of oral disease in disadvantaged children is critical to underscore, especially since February is National Children's Dental Health Month," stated Fern K. Ingber, The National Children's Dental Foundation, Executive Director & CEO. "The creation of this Foundation represents an unheralded uniting of the leaders in the dental industry toward the focused goal to make a real difference in the lives of children."

The Foundation's stated goals for the first ten years of operation are to raise $100 million annually to:

--Treat 5 million or more children annually through more than 500 centers nationwide and begin providing support to developing nations.

--Educate and screen more than 20 million children annually through schools, community events and ongoing community-based activities.

--Serve as an advocate for children's dental needs and services with national leaders and the general public to create adequate support for children's oral health.

The National Children's Dental Foundation is being launched through a cooperative effort of leading dental industry companies, associations, educators and individual practices providing support through monetary and in-kind products and services.

The origin of The National Children's Dental Foundation is with The Children's Dental Center (TCDC) founded by Dr. Cherilyn Sheets and based in Inglewood, CA. The TCDC was founded in 1995 to provide underserved children a dental home providing: community-based prevention, education and treatment services for children and their parents and immediate dental care for urgent oral health problems along with prevention services and education. The TCDC has treated more than 50,000 disadvantaged children and provided education and prevention services to thousands more in the past ten years.

The National Children's Dental Foundation, based in Inglewood, CA, is an industry-supported non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating dental disease and promoting overall health and well-being by supporting and assuring access to the best comprehensive prevention, education, treatment and advocacy programs for the growing numbers of dentally underserved children. For more information on The National Children's Dental Foundation call 1-800-559-9838 or visit their web site at www.TNCDF.org.