Florida Senate - 2015                            (NP)    SR 1632
       
       
        
       By Senator Hays
       
       
       
       
       
       11-02323A-15                                          20151632__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing March 25, 2015, as “Dentists’
    3         Day on the Hill.”
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, the Florida Dental Association was established in
    6  1884 to advance public health through professional dentistry
    7  education and public advocacy while promoting high practice
    8  standards and improving the professional practice environment,
    9  and
   10         WHEREAS, the Florida Dental Association is a statewide
   11  professional membership organization representing nearly 6,500
   12  licensed dentists in this state, and
   13         WHEREAS, studies show that good oral health may help
   14  prevent heart disease, arterial blockage, stroke, diabetes,
   15  preterm delivery, low birth weights in babies, and bacterial
   16  pneumonia, and
   17         WHEREAS, the Florida Dental Association is promoting
   18  “Florida’s Action for Dental Health,” a comprehensive effort
   19  developed by the Florida Dental Association and stakeholder
   20  groups to improve the oral health and resulting overall health
   21  of all Floridians, and
   22         WHEREAS, in 2014, the Florida Dental Association Foundation
   23  launched its first Florida Mission of Mercy, a massive, 2-day,
   24  free dental clinic involving more than 1,450 volunteers, 350 of
   25  whom were dentists and dental hygienists, who treated more than
   26  1,600 patients and provided more than $1.2 million in donated
   27  care in Tampa, and
   28         WHEREAS, the Florida Dental Association Foundation is
   29  coordinating its next Florida Mission of Mercy, which will be
   30  held on April 22 and 23, 2016, in Jacksonville, and
   31         WHEREAS, the Donated Dental Services program, created in
   32  1997 by the Florida Dental Lifeline Network and the South
   33  Florida District Dental Association, is composed of nearly 400
   34  dentists and 200 dental labs statewide, and enables dentists to
   35  donate comprehensive treatment for persons with disabilities,
   36  the elderly, or the medically fragile who cannot afford dental
   37  care, and
   38         WHEREAS, the Donated Dental Services program has provided
   39  care to more than 1,351 patients with seriously neglected dental
   40  health issues, with nearly $5 million in dental services donated
   41  since its inception, and
   42         WHEREAS, in 1993, the Florida Dental Association teamed
   43  with the Volunteer Health Care Provider Program in the Florida
   44  Department of Health to create “Project: Dentists Care,” a
   45  dental access program, and
   46         WHEREAS, from July 2013 to June 2014, “Project: Dentists
   47  Care” provided a safety net of preventative and restorative
   48  dental care for underserved adults and children statewide, with
   49  more than 2,600 volunteer dentists donating more than $9.5
   50  million in services, NOW, THEREFORE,
   51  
   52  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   53  
   54         That March 25, 2015, is recognized as “Dentists’ Day on the
   55  Hill.”
   56         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   57  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to the Florida
   58  Dental Association as a tangible token of the sentiments of the
   59  Florida Senate.