MEDIA ADVISORY: UCSF Offers Free Dental Screenings at MLK Jr. Celebration

What: UC San Francisco will offer free dental screenings to adults and children as part of San Francisco’s 2018 MLK Jr. Celebration, Film & Comic Arts Festival. Dental students and residents from the UCSF Hispanic Student Dental Association in the UCSF School of Dentistry will perform the screenings and provide referrals, as needed, for follow-up care. They also will apply fluoride varnish to children to prevent cavities, with parental/guardian consent. Screenings take approximately 15 minutes. No appointment is necessary.

Media are invited to attend. RSVP to [email protected]. On the day of the event, contact Lily Wong at (415) 650-7443.

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday, Jan. 15, 2018

Where: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St., San Francisco

Why: Early detection is key to diagnosing potential tooth decay, which remains one of the nation’s most common chronic diseases. By age 17, more than 7 percent of children have lost a permanent tooth to decay.

INTERVIEW, PHOTO AND VIDEO OPPORTUNITIES:

• UCSF dentists and residents
• Individuals receiving dental screenings
• Festival coordinators

UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, transitional and population sciences; and a preeminent biomedical research enterprise. It also includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland, and other partner and affiliated hospitals and healthcare providers throughout the Bay Area.