Children in foster care do have medical coverage but many times it only covers the bare necessities. After recently being placed with a loving family, a three-year-old foster child was taken in for medical and dental checkups. The dental checkup was not positive as the young girl had numerous cavities. The insurance would only cover silver caps as opposed to porcelain (the white natural caps).
Three of those silver caps were supposed to be placed on her front teeth. While silver caps solve the immediate cavity issue and are a viable option, it also runs the risk of damaging a child’s self-confidence, especially one who was just placed into foster care. Yes, these caps would eventually fall out as they are just baby teeth, but they could be with her for another four years before that happens.
We have seen this before with children who have had the misfortune of having silver caps placed on their front teeth. The child immediately looks different from their peers, and the effects are easily seen when they begin to cover their mouths as they laugh or smile. The issue usually gets worse when their friends ask what is wrong with their teeth.
This, unfortunately, is one of multiple common issues that occur when children first come into foster care. Most children entering into Koinonia foster care have a lot of dental, medical and other needs after years of neglect. These type of expenses are not covered by foster care rates or insurance, but we feel something should still be done. We, as an organization, always try to find a way to cover expenses like this because taking care of a child is more than just making sure they are physically safe. It is also about caring for the mental health of that child.
In the case of this little girl, it cost an extra $750.00 to upgrade from silver caps to porcelain caps for her front teeth. We were able to provide that extra money thanks to donations and great generosity from people like you. Without your donations these special fund requests would not be possible. We want to thank all that have donated or spread the word about donating to our organization as you have helped make sure a child could smile with confidence.