News Release from Northwestern Michigan College 1701 E. Front St., Traverse City MI 49686 Contact: Paul Heaton, 231 995-1019, email: pheaton@nmc.edu Date: November 5, 2008 News Archive

Dental screenings, education offered at regional schools

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Dental assistant students at Northwestern Michigan College will participate in a dental access program offered to 4,000 regional school children starting this week.

The project, part of the American Dental Association’s “Give Kids a Smile!” program, will involve students in kindergarten through third grade in 26 public and non-public schools in the five-county area. The program starts Friday, Nov. 7 and runs through February 2009.

Organized by the Traverse Health Clinic and Coalition, the project gives more than 20 dental assistant students the chance to earn community service hours required in their coursework. Elementary students will participate in the following four-step process, which may be delivered on multiple classroom visits:

• Age-specific education on nutrition and oral care, including distribution of free toothbrushes and dental floss.
• Oral screenings performed on each student by volunteer registered dentists and dental hygienists, with assistance from NMC students. Results will be documented and sent to parents as an oral health report card.
• Parent Resource Information Sheets for accessing dental care sent home.
• New this year, Michelle Smith, R.D.H., of the Youth Health & Wellness Center, will oversee following up with students who either have urgent dental needs or who show visible signs of decay.  She will either encourage the family to make an appointment for their child with their own dentist, or provide preventive dental treatments at the Youth Health & Wellness Center.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, dental decay is one of the most common chronic infectious diseases among American children and is preventable. During last year’s events, NMC dental assistant students and volunteer dentists and hygienists examined 4,040 children. They found that three-fourths of school children already had a filling in their primary teeth and more than 1,000 were found with decay needing to be treated.

Opportunities for stories and photos of the project are detailed in the attached calendar . Most visits will begin about 8:30 a.m. but media should contact Sue Adkins at (231) 935-0799, ext. 18, to confirm specific start times.

For more information, contact Alison Collins, NMC Dental Assisting Director at (231) 995-1250 or Rene Louchart at (231) 935-0799, ext 19.