New Grant to Support Dental Care for Children, Adults with Rare Genetic Disorder

Dr. Rochelle G. Lindemeyer,
Principal Investigator

Philadelphia — A grant awarded to Penn Dental Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia will help create a new program that focuses on providing dental care to children and adults with a rare genetic disorder.

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes a range of physical and cognitive challenges. Children diagnosed with CdLS need early and ongoing attention to their dental health. Since many children with CdLS have cognitive issues, dental care is often performed under sedation and requires experienced pediatric specialists to deliver proper dental care.

The $30,000 grant, awarded by Delta Dental as one of its Access to Care grants, will help create a program within CHOP’s Center for Cornelia de Lange Syndrome and Related Diagnoses to support dental care for children and adults with CdLS and similar diagnoses.

“For our patients, there are many barriers to receiving dental care, specifically poor insurance coverage and travel expenses,” says Dr. Rochelle G. Lindemeyer, Associate Professor Emeritus of Pediatric Dentistry at Penn Dental Medicine and CHOP and the Center’s consulting dentist, who is the grant’s principal investigator. “This Access to Care grant will allow us to establish a program within the Center to provide support to families for routine dental health services, obtain specialized equipment, and allow for the development of educational materials for families and clinicians.”

All outpatient CHOP dental care is performed at Penn Dental Medicine within the School’s Division of Pediatric Dentistry, while patients requiring general anesthesia are treated at CHOP.

Co-investigators on the project are Ian D. Krantz, MD, Director of the Center for Cornelia de Lange Syndrome and Related Diagnoses, and Sarah E. Raible, MS, CGC, a genetic counselor and Clinical Director of the Center.