Scott Swanson
Two years ago Foster School was the first stop for the Tooth Taxi, a mobile dental van that makes oral care available to Oregon’s underserved children.
Last week the Tooth Taxi was back at Foster, providing cleanings and other, more serious dental work to students from a number of district schools.
The Tooth Taxi is a unique partnership between the Dental Foundation of Oregon – the charitable arm of the Oregon Dental Association, the OEA Choice Trust and ODS. It is funded by donations from foundations, corporations and individual, and others who csare about the oral health of Oregon’s underserved children,
The 38-foot Winnebago motor home, which has been customized into a state-of-the-art dental office with two fully-equipped operatory units that can provide digital X-rays, was parked next to the school gym.
Inside, third-grader Jerry Thompson was getting some dental work done by staff dentist Dr. Robert Rudell and assistant Chanel Kim.
“They’re just fantastic,” said Joan Pappin, health service coordinator for the Sweet Home School District. “Now that they have two years experience, they’re just streamlined. They perform a significant amount of service.”
On Monday, Nov. 15, alone, the van’s staff screened 43 children, according to Program Director Mary Daly, who has been with Tooth Taxi since the beginning.
She said children get a one-hour appointment and, if they require it, a second appointment.
Children also get a packet of tooth-care materials, including a three-minute egg timer to help them keep track of how long they should brush. Staff members also perform oral hygiene presentations in the classroom, including one at Foster on Thursday, Nov. 18.
Daly said the van travels the entire state. In its first two years, it visited 99 sites, providing screenings for 7,317 children and treating 2,886. Some 344 volunteers – dentists, dental assistants, hygienists, runners and general helpers, and high school students have contributed more than 2,000 volunteer hours.
Pappin said that both uninsured and insured children are treated; the latter can have their insurance companies billed.
According to the Dental Foundation of Oregon, children in this state have among the worst oral health in the nation and it has gotten worse over the past five years – the number of school children with untreated tooth decay has grown 12 percent. Nearly 56 percent of children 6 to 8 years old have dental decay and the numbers are significantly higher for low-income families.
Pappin said the experience in the Tooth Taxi was a positive one for the students who visited.
“They’re very gentle,” she said of the staff. “We had absolutely no kids complaining about anything.”