Toothprints program will benefit CCRF (02/27/05)

Toothprints program will benefit CCRF

MILLBURN, N.J. - February is National Children's Dental Health Month, and the office of Dr. Marusia Kushnir in Millburn, N.J., will be making toothprints for children age 3-16 from February 1 to March 10, as a fund-raiser for the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund. The cost of making the toothprints is $5, with $1 going toward the cost of materials and $4 going toward the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund.

Developed by Dr. David Tesini, a pediatric dentist from Natick, Mass., toothprints are a bite impression of children's teeth that serves as a method of identification. Children bite down on a thermoplastic wafer, creating a permanent record of their teeth. Toothprints are very important now because many children have no cavities and cannot be identified via their dental radiographs. The toothprint is sealed in a plastic bag that preserves the salivary proteins, which can be used as a DNA sample or by FBI-trained dogs to trace a scent while searching for a missing child.

Yearly updates of toothprints are ideal. In lieu of that, the following schedule is recommended:

initial impression: age 3 (or after all primary teeth have erupted);
update: age 7 or 8 (or after the upper and lower incisors and the first permanent molars have erupted);
update: age 12 or 13 (or after all permanent teeth excluding third molars have erupted);

The Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund (CCRF), based in Short Hills, N.J., was founded in November 1989 in response to the growing medical crisis in Ukraine resulting from the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear explosion. With 13 chapters, CCRF has sent over $51 million of aid to Ukrainian hospitals and orphanages.

The office of Dr. Kushnir is located at 120 Millburn Ave., Suite M-4, Millburn, N.J. For more information about the toothprints or to schedule a time to have them done, readers may call the office at (973) 467-9876.

| Home Page |