Mobile Care Chicago to Add Second Dental Van!

Mobile Care Chicago is excited to announce the launch of its second mobile dental clinic, providing a no-cost dental home to low-income children throughout the city of Chicago. Beginning September 2015, the Dental Van will join a fleet of two Asthma Vans and the first Dental Van, launched less than one year ago.

“To see this program grow so quickly, with two clinics launched in one year, is a testament to the huge unmet need for oral health care in the city of Chicago,” says Mobile Care CEO Tim Egan. “We, as a city, cannot allow over 65,000 children per year to live with chronic mouth pain. The outpouring of support for our Dental Van demonstrates a large-scale consensus. We won’t stop until every child has access to a dentist, regardless of their family’s income.”

The Chicago Department of Public Health estimates that in 2014 over 80,000 children were in need of oral health care beyond the scope of Chicago’s Sealant Program, and, of those, 65,000 either could not or did not follow the referral to receive the recommended restorative care. Oral diseases, if left untreated, can lead to other serious medical conditions, including worsening asthma.

The new Dental Van was made possible by a generous $700,000 gift from the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation. “We’re in awe of the Rice Foundation,” says Mobile Care founder and board member Philip H. Sheridan, Jr. “They were among the first to recognize the potential of our Asthma Vans 15 years ago, and they’re paving the way again as we provide expanded care to low-income kids.”

Mobile Care’s first Dental Van, launched last summer, was the first comprehensive mobile dental clinic serving Chicago children. It is estimated that the two Dental Vans will serve 5,000 low-income children in the coming year.

Want to know how we’re doing? Track the progress of our first Dental Van! 

And you can see pictures of our Dental Van! Looking pretty nice, right?