University of Chicago - Department of Surgery

Pediatric Dentistry plays an important role in improving and maintaining the oral health of infants, children, and adolescents.

Pediatric dentists are specially trained to:

Provide dental care in a hospital environment to medically compromised children whose condition would make treatment * difficult or impossible in a dental office.

Provide dental care to those children who, because of behavior, cannot be treated by general dentists.
Develop effective strategies for hematology/oncology patients to prevent or minimize oral complication before, during, and after use of chemotherapeutic agents or radiation.
Manage oral complications in those children who are immunocompromised, either from disease or from therapeutic agents.
Work as part of a team to restore form and function for cleft lip/palate patients and those with other craniofacial anomalies.
Ronald McDonald Care Mobile

A collaboration between Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Walter G. Zoller Memorial Dental Clinics at the University of Chicago, with support from La Rabida Children's Hospital and the Friend Family Health Center, will bring oral healthcare services directly to disadvantaged and disabled children of Chicago via the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile program.

The first comprehensive Ronald McDonald Care Mobile oral healthcare program for children in Chicago was launched on Wed., Oct. 13, at La Rabida Children's Hospital. Eight feet wide, 13 feet tall and 40 feet long, the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile is a 26,000-pound dental office on wheels. It contains two fully equipped examination rooms, a digital x-ray system, wheelchair lift, reception and medical records area, plus laptop computers, televisions and VCRs for patient education about dental health and nutrition. It will bring oral exams, cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, X-rays, fillings, extractions, and information to easily accessible sites. The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile program has been made possible by a philanthropic partnership. Ronald McDonald House Charities contributed the vehicle, at a cost of more than $350,000, in memory of McDonald�s former Chairman and CEO, Jim Cantalupo, who died in April 2004.

The Zoller Memorial Fund, based at the University of Chicago, will contribute nearly $250,000 each year to provide ongoing support for the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile program staff, equipment, supplies and maintenance. Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana will contribute $25,000 a year for educational materials. The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile is the twenty-first of its kind launched by Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Dentists on the Van : Deval Shah, DDS and Barbara Traina, DDS