Dentists sealed the deal
<p>After giggling about looking like a vampire, Lily Niblack relaxes as the sealant is applied.</p>
<p>Nicole Main gets Kenyen ready for his application.</p>
<p>Dental Assistant Victoria Haggard applies tooth sealant to Lily Niblack.</p>
<p>Dental Hygenist Travis Fisher preps Lily Niblack for her treatment. To keep any potentially harmful things from getting in their eyes, the students all wore sunglasses.</p>
<p>Dental Hygenist Cyndi Marengo applies the sealant to Kenyen, a fourth-grade student in Mrs. Larson's class.</p>
LAKE COUNTY – After Dental Hygienist Travis Fisher placed a pair of sunglasses on her eyes and two cotton rolls in her mouth, Linderman fourth-grader Lily Niblack looked like a very cool little vampire.
In fact, she giggled at the thought.
Lily was one of dozens of Linderman Elementary School students who received tooth sealant treatment and dental assessments provided at no cost by Sealants for Smiles.
The Montana Dental Association launched the grant-funded program in 2012 and Linderman students were the second school in Lake County to benefit from the program. Arlee students inaugurated the program here.
Dentists, hygienists, assistants and community members volunteer to provide the treatment for students statewide.
“We launched this program when the (American Dental Association) was developing its Action for Dental Health movement, and we think that it fits in with its action plan by emphasizing disease prevention and providing care now to those with untreated disease,” said dentist Christopher Hirt, MDA president from Billings. “Montana has a very spread-out population and lots of rural areas where children are in need of dental care,” he said. “And we also have lots of dentists who are willing to volunteer. What we wanted to do with this program was connect them.”
Polson dentists Chris Clave and Gary Pitts helped bring the program to Lake County.
Pitts was at Linderman on Dec. 4.
“We’re volunteering today because we can see some kids we normally don’t get to see,” he said.
His next goal is to provide the treatment to students in Ronan and St. Ignatius, he said.
And Cherry Valley Elementary School is already waiting for a date.
Applying sealants is only one aspect of the comprehensive prevention program, said Dr. Jane Gillette, a Bozeman, Montana, dentist and researcher. “We also assist qualified uninsured families in applying for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Filling out the paperwork to do this can be an onerous task for a family.”
Sealants for Smiles also coordinates follow-up care for children with urgent treatment needs,
“If they have a dentist of record, we coordinate care back with their dentist,” he said.
Because the program uses volunteer, home-town dentists, children with urgent needs are usually seen by the volunteer dentist within 24 hours.
Hirt said the program has grown more quickly than organizers ever anticipated, and the number of volunteers surpassed all of their expectations.
“It’s so much fun for the dentists and team members who participate,” said Hirt. “The volunteers are very enthusiastic and they are really supporting the program. Because of the support the program receives, the time commitment for volunteers is not huge and we are able to use our skills to help kids in our communities.”
Last month, Sealants for Smiles received a grant from the Oral Health America Smiles Across America program and it also receives generous funding from the Foundation for Healthy Montanans, the foundation of Blue Cross Blue Shield. This funding enabled the MDA to hire a full-time program coordinator and a part-time assistant who handle all the communications with school partners and local organizations that participate, enabling volunteer dentists to concentrate on providing care.
The MDA’s Montana Healthy Smiles website is montanahealthysmiles.com. Follow it at @MTDentists on Twitter.