Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- UVU dental hygiene students provide free dental care to over 60 Orem elementary children.
- The program improves student attendance, confidence and academic performance, according to the principal.
- The program offers dental students valuable experience with young patients in alternative settings.
OREM — First-grader Melissa Cordova Patricio walked out of her dental appointment at Westmore Elementary School Wednesday with a smile on her face, happily holding the stickers she had just received.
Melissa is just one of more than 60 kids who is receiving free dental care and education in the comfort of her own school.
"We partner with the elementary school to provide dental care for the students that might not have access to it otherwise. We come and get to the see the kids, and they are so cute," UVU junior Gracie Miller said.
For the past three years, juniors and seniors in the UVU dental hygiene program have been conducting a mobile clinic for students at Westmore Elementary School. During the spring, the hygienists in training come twice a week to do cleanings, visual exams, fluoride varnishes, X-rays, and even put sealants on the students' teeth who need them.
Typically, the dental hygiene students practice on adults who come to the UVU clinic, so the opportunity to work with kids has been so valuable, she said.
"Even though they are so young, a lot of them don't like smiling because they have (dental) issues, and it's just so rewarding being able to work with them and seeing their confidence grow," Miller said.
The UVU dental hygiene mobile clinic has filled a "huge, huge medical need" for the school, Westmore Principal Vic Larsen said. Helping the students with their physical needs has led to better attendance, academic learning, engagement and self-confidence, he added.
"These same kids who come through this program, they're not shy anymore," he said. "These kids aren't suffering anymore, and to me it's worth the partnership. I love housing the dental program here."
Larsen explained how a student last year suddenly started missing a lot of school. He reached out to her family and discovered she was experiencing severe dental pain, but they couldn't afford any dental care.
He told the family about this free dental program offered at the school, and she was able to come in and get an exam. Turns out, she needed a root canal and had several cavities. The UVU dental hygiene program helped refer the family to a dentist who was able to do pro bono work for the fillings the students couldn't do.
"After that, her attendance changed dramatically. She was coming to school daily; her academics were just flying high," he said.
Another younger student was constantly crying at school, and the teachers couldn't figure out how to help her, Larsen said. They got her into the dental program and discovered she had a cavity in every tooth.
After getting her cavities taken care of and providing some parent education on proper oral hygiene, that student no longer cries at school and isn't in pain anymore.
"I love how UVU, they'll teach the students how to brush their teeth, how to floss, all those things. And the kids leave with their little dentist goody bag, and they just feel so empowered. They love it," he said.
Besides helping the children, the initiative helps the dental hygiene students by giving them experience working with young patients and the opportunity to see dental cases they might not normally run into.
"This is a great opportunity to help them understand how to work with children and how you have to kind of adjust some of the treatment planning and how we help teach the importance of oral care," instructor Deborah Dowd said.
The program helps elementary school children learn that it's OK to go to the dentist, and it doesn't have to be a scary experience, she said. Outreach provides care to people who may not have access to it normally and educates children on hygiene habits that will help them throughout their life.
The UVU dental hygiene program recently opened a new location in Lehi that now has space for all of the students, so while the outreach program isn't technically needed anymore, Dowd said it is so crucial for the students to have these unique experiences in alternative settings.
"We can take portable equipment to a school, a nursing home, and set up in-house and still serve that population and be able to help," she said. "It helps them see the possibilities of ways to reach and serve in the community besides just your typical dental office."
A community school
Larsen said this program has been instrumental in helping the students, and in turn the community, of Westmore Elementary School. About 70% of the students at Westmore qualify for free/reduced lunch, meaning they live within the poverty threshold.
"For me as a principal, I am always trying to find ways to take care of the basic needs of my community, so then the teachers can really focus on the education," Larsen said.
Being a community school means taking care of the community's basic needs and connecting parents with resources so they can focus on education and not have to worry about other things, Larsen said. The school has a backpack program that provides food for children to take on the weekends, partners with an organization for free clothing pop-ups, hosts food drives and more.
"I love this job because we help kids in so many different ways. And then to see parents now who are giving back to the school," he said. "You can feel the sense of pride swelling in this area because they know that we care about creating a safe learning environment."
