Dental Campaign

     

 

 

    Oral health is the number one need identified by the Utah County Health Department nurses who work with the children in Utah County schools. Utah is a state with minimal water fluoridation, and the rate of dental caries, or tooth decay, is relatively high. Utah County has one of the highest incidences of caries in the state. Seven years ago, a group of Utah Valley Hospital Volunteers started the Utah County Dental Campaign, and provided dental kits consisting of a toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss to students at four Utah County elementary schools. Since that first year, the program has grown to include many more schools and has helped thousands of children. This year the program has visited twenty of the twenty-three Title I schools in Utah County, delivered dental kits to 15,000 children, and applied fluoride varnish to over 4,000 children.

 

    In the past few years the Utah Valley Hospital Volunteers have moved on to other projects, but the program has lived on with the remaining partner organizations taking on different roles to ensure that it can continue in the schools. Community Health Connect (CHC) initially came on board to help provide follow-up care for children who were identified as being in serious need of dental care but have no insurance or other funding to pay for the care they required. Along with Intermountain Healthcare, CHC has become one of the primary program coordinators. The Utah Migrant Farmworker Program supplies much of the funding and volunteers from the BYU and UVU predental club are instrumental in staffing the assemblies. Mountainland Applied Technology College students in the dental assisting program apply the fluoride varnish and school nurses with Utah County Health Department are on hand at the varnishing application as well.

    In addition to more community partners the program has expanded to include more elements and deliverables. The program now includes a fun, educational skit featuring Mr. Happy Tooth and Cougar Paste, who help teach children how to properly brush and floss their teeth. In addition to the dental kits, the program also provides the opportunity for the children to receive a free fluoride varnish with parental permission courtesy of the Utah Migrant Farmworker Program. As the volunteers apply the varnish to the children’s teeth, they also screen them for excessive amounts of decay. While preventative care is the most effective care we can provide, there are many students who are found during the fluoride application and screening process to be in urgent need of restorative care. If the student has insurance coverage they are referred to a dentist who accepts that insurance.  If they do not have insurance, Community Health Connect then connects these students to one of the community dentists in the Volunteer Provider Network (VPN) who will provide free dental care for the uninsured child.

    The dentists in the VPN give free care in their own offices to patients who could not otherwise afford the services. Our network currently includes over forty dental professionals, including a handful of dentists who specialize in pediatric dentistry.  Anticipating an increase in patients from the Utah County Dental Campaign’s school dental program, we are always increasing our ability to provide restorative care.  If you are interested in becoming a part of Community Health Connect’s Volunteer Provider Network, please contact  Executive Director, Starr Stratford at 801.818.3012.