HealthPoint Family Care community health service is announcing a program today to bring dental care to up to 5,700 school children in Northern Kentucky through a dental care mobile office.

The project will cost $500,000 to launch, and HealthPoint leaders hope to start seeing young patients in schools next fall, said HealthPoint CEO Chris Goddard, who is making the announcement at a noon luncheon today at the Drees Pavilion in Devou Park.

He said $50,000 is pledged, and he hopes to have the rest of the funding in hand by early spring.

HealthPoint is the only federally funded, non-profit medical care program in Northern Kentucky providing medical and dental care to people with Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance as well as providing care on a sliding fee scale for people with no insurance.

The mobile dental office will be a 40-foot van equipped with dental chairs and full equipment, including an X-ray machine.

Schools will work with parents to schedule students for everything from routine exams and sealant treatment to fillings, extractions and other dental work.

Goddard said the van will travel to schools that have at least 50 percent of the children eligible for the federal government's free or reduced lunch program for low-income families.

"Most of the children will be on K-Chip (the Kentucky child health insurance for low income families). Medicaid pays for their service. We anticipate 30 percent of the kids will have no insurance - not K-Chip and no private insurance," he said.

HealthPoint already provides dental services in it's Covington office and will open a dental clinic in its Bellevue office in December.

The organization's long-range plan is to have a dental office in each of its seven clinics.

The school van will provide the same dental services as in the clinics, but with more convenience. As more children are served at school, it will open up appointment time in the clinics.

The announcement came as part of HealthPoint's community lunch, where Goddard presents the annual report.

In 2004, HealthPoint treated 26,000 patients. Of those, 37 percent were covered by Medicaid, the government health insurance for low-income people, 8 percent were covered by Medicare, the health insurance for seniors, 26 percent had private insurance, and 29 percent had no insurance.

The agency opened its seventh office last year in Robertson County, which had not had a doctor practicing in the county for seven years, said Goddard. He said residents often drove more than 20 miles to see a doctor.

Other HealthPoint clinical care offices include four in Covington, one in Bellevue, and one in Bracken County.

HealthPoint has partnered with Children Inc. child care agency in Covington and the Northern Kentucky Health Department to promote dental health awareness, treatment and preventive care.

He said Children Inc. created a DVD, available to schools and pre-schools, explaining good dental hygiene.

Goddard said Kentucky is 49th out of 50 states in toothlessness.

"A lot of it is a generational issue, where parents don't stress the value of good oral health to their children. A lot of it is attributable to lack of access to dentists."

He said many people with health insurance do not have dental insurance, and the Medicaid reimbursement for dental care is so low many dentists do not accept it.

"In Eastern Kentucky, some parents tell their kids the goal is to have all their teeth pulled before they get married because it will just cause them problems," Goddard said. "They'd rather have them pulled than deal with problems of infections, cavities and tooth aches."

He said children with poor dental care go to school in pain, which affects their concentration and education.

Goddard said buying and equipping the van, which must be specially designed to carry sensitive equipment, will cost $500,000.

"We're looking to continue to partner with United Way and individual donors to sustain it," he said.

United Way, which is winding up its annual fund drive this week, helps fund several HealthPoint programs.