Your kid needs a dentist but can’t find one
Duuuval on the wire — biggest city you've been sleeping on.
Okay so, here's what people don't get about Jax: we're big, y'all. We've got sprawl, we've got beaches, we've got the river, but sometimes, the everyday stuff gets overlooked. Like how hard it is for kids in Jacksonville to get decent preventative dental care. I'm tellin' you, this story about kids ending up in the emergency room for toothaches? It just hits different when you think about our neighborhoods.
Here's what people don't get about Jax: this isn't some backwater problem. We’re talkin’ about kids in Duval County, right here, not getting the basic cleanings and check-ups that keep little problems from becoming big, painful ones. Experts are saying emergency rooms are becoming the catch-all, which is just wild to me. Think about a parent trying to navigate this, maybe they're in Arlington or out toward Cecil Field, trying to find a dentist that takes their insurance or has an opening. It ain't easy.
* **The Problem:** Kids aren't getting routine dental care. * **The Impact:** Emergency rooms are seeing more kids for preventable dental issues. * **The "So What" for Duval:** This means more stress on our already busy emergency services and, more importantly, our kids are in pain and missing school. It's a fundamental health issue for our community, and it's happening right under our noses.
This really brings it home. We can talk about new developments and fancy upgrades all day, but if our youngest residents can’t even get a cavity filled, what are we really building? This is about the health of our future here in Jacksonville, from the beaches to the Westside.
Duuuval on the wire — biggest city you've been sleeping on.
Y'all, this is the kinda thing Keith and the crew dig into every morning. Catch 'em live at mornings.live.