The help comes from Hawaii Meals on Wheels, the Hawaii Dental Association's Dental Samaritans and Hawaii Dental Service who are providing free dental screenings and dental home care kits to homebound residents throughout various Oahu communities during Senior Dental Health Month.

The volunteers started at O'ahu Care Facility this morning and will head to other areas in the coming weeks. Hawaii Dental Association Dental Samaritans will accompany Hawaii Meals on Wheels staff to homebound elderly and disabled clients to provide free dental checkups while the Hawaii Meals on Wheels provide hot meals.

Hawaii Dental Service provided a $9,500, three-year grant to pay for the program. Dental supplies are scheduled for distribution to clients in Hawaii Kai, upper and lower Kalihi, Makiki, McCully, Punahou, Waikiki, Kaimuki, Palolo, Kinau, Aiea, Kaneohe, Kailua, and Ewa.

Free dental screenings are scheduled for Waikiki, Palolo-Aina Hina and Manoa-Punahou.

The Hawaii Dental Association Dental Samaritans is a network of member dentists who volunteer in the community to meet the needs of people in shelters and under served areas of Hawaii and others who are unable to gain access to dental care. The Hawaii Dental Association is a professional association of dentists established in 1903 and is the local society of the American Dental Association.

The Dentists volunteering for today's program are: Russell H. Masunaga DDS, Mark Greer DMD, and Mason Savage DDS.

Hawaii Meals on Wheels is a 26-year-old not-for-profit organization that delivers hot meals to Oahu's elderly and individuals who are disabled and unable to shop for food or prepare their own meals. Volunteers deliver lunch and dinner meals on 31 routes serving clients from Hawaii Kai to Kapolei.

Hawaii Dental Service was incorporated in 1962 and provides quality dental benefits plans to more than 500,000 people throughout Hawaii, Guam and Saipan. More than 96 percent of the licensed, practicing dentists in