LAKE COUNTY — The Access Dental Van made its yearly pass through Lake County with one-week stops in the Middletown and Konocti unified school districts. More than 200 children received services free-of-charge.
Lake County Office of Education”s Healthy Start program coordinated visits by the mobile dental service, which provided screenings, cleanings and various treatments. The program is statewide through contracts with Healthy Families.
“With the economy many employers are cutting back on benefits, especially dental coverage. This leaves many children with untreated dental decay,” Wendy Gattoni, family advocate for the Health Start program in Middletown said. “About 95 percent of the children who were seen had no insurance. Not only were we thanked by the parents but many children thanked us for helping treat their cavities.”
The Access Dental Van was in the Middletown district April 19 through 23. Gattoni said that about 90 children were seen with 80 cleanings and fluoride treatments provided, 47 filling procedures, four pulp with SS crowns and 15 sealants.
Dr. Monte Cooper said he not only likes traveling but he also like working with kids. “This is a great program,” he said. “There are more mobile programs out there but not a lot of them do as much as we do in terms of actual treatment. We see anywhere between 70 to 100 kids per stop.”
The van operated from Burns Valley Elementary School the week of April 26 providing services to children throughout the district. More than 112 Konocti students were seen with 81 cleanings and a total of 36 students receiving one or more treatments.
“Not only did a large quantity of uninsured children receive services, we were able to complete treatments on more than 30 kids and at least five of those children received hundreds of dollars worth of dental work,” Gina Dickson, Healthy Start supervisor at Burns Valley and East Lake elementary schools said. “The focus was not only on corrective but also on prevention. Each cleaning came with the oral health care lesson and care kit from the hygienist. We have made a huge difference. It makes coming to work everyday feel good.”
For more information regarding Access Dental services visit the Web site at www.AccessDental.com.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
