Everyone's talking about health insurance. Whether it's dealing with rising costs at open enrollment time, listening to presidential candidates pitch their universal coverage plans, or learning about a health insurer's sneaky policy rescission tactics, healthcare is one of the most important issues of 2008.

But all this attention showered on medicine overshadows another healthcare field. Like Alec Baldwin's less talented brothers, dental care gets ignored, even though it can have greater impact, especially in children.

The fact that so many kids lack healthcare coverage is a tragedy, true. But state laws prevent emergency rooms from turning patients away, regardless of their insurance status. The uninsured do receive treatment, even if the system is far from perfect.

Not so when it comes to dentistry. Kids with serious oral health problems don't go to emergency rooms and there's nowhere else to go. The problems literally fester, growing from minor hygiene needs into major oral-facial problems. What would take a few hundred dollars to fix in the form of a cleaning or a filling can erupt into something that requires implants or root canals down the road. The growing ranks of uninsured kids mean it won't be long before PoliGrip becomes a major advertiser in Seventeen Magazine.

Thankfully, there's a local group working to fix this. The Foundation for Children's Dental Health is a local charity devoted to providing free dental services to Santa Clarita kids with nowhere else to turn. The Foundation's secretary and event coordinator Brendie Bandara says, "People think that the SCV is too affluent to have needy kids, but they're here." And the Foundation is here to help. "Kids come in with their hands over their mouths; when they leave, they're all smiles," recalls Bandara. Not many organizations can produce such immediate and meaningful results.

The Foundation's work goes far beyond fixing a dingy smile. A youngster with untreated dental problems can't focus on schoolwork, can't succeed and can't become a productive member of society. Making sure these kids get treatment doesn't just help them, its helps the rest of us by ensuring our children get the full benefit of the education we provide. "Our board is passionate that no SCV kid should have to sit in class in pain," says Bandara.

According to Executive Director Ericka Watson, in 2007 the Foundation provided various forms of dental services to 1,417 local kids. With the help of volunteer dentists, the Foundation's mobile clinic treated
103 children, providing services valued at over $121,000. Hundreds more received oral hygiene education and follow-up visits. And through its Healthy Smiles program, the foundation provides fluoride varnish treatments to pre-schoolers, a process that has been shown to produce a 35-percent reduction in cavities. Reducing cavities can halt the development of more serious, and more costly, problems in the future. Add in the Foundation's efforts to train local schoolteachers to identify budding dental needs before they become major problems and it's easy to see how the group brightens the lives and smiles of local kids.

Direct donations help the Foundation, of course, but attending its second annual masquerade ball would be a more fun way to contribute. Featuring an authentic Cajun-style feast and a full four hours of Creole music by the renowned Bonne Musique Zydeco band, this will be one rockin' party. Two hundred lucky guests will dominate the beautiful Valencia Country Club facilities - in full costume. Here's your chance to push the edge and throw caution to the Santa Anas; see and be seen in your wildest get-up while you charm the guests with your best Southern accent. If the music and food isn't enough to set your blood boiling, raise the stakes with the full complement of casino-style table games. Can you say riverboat gambler? This party's energy could turn Mr. Rogers into a carousing rogue. Prizes will go to the top three players, so be ready to work the odds.

The Cajun sounds begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, February 8, so get yourself in the mood now.

For more information on volunteering, tickets, sponsorships or donations call
296-8515 or log onto www.fcdh.org.