SPRINGDALE : Mobile tooth unit gets district's OK
Posted on Wednesday, January 14, 2009
SPRINGDALE- School nurses have drafted a plan to bring a mobile dental clinic to elementary schoolchildren as a way to help break down one of the most common barriers to learning.
"If a child is unhealthy, they're going to have a hard time learning," said Barbara Ludwig, the district's nursing coordinator.
The global committee of Ronald McDonald House Charities will meet this month to approve the plan, which already has been approved by the charity's Arkansas-Oklahoma branch.
If approved, an endowment formed by the charity and several local businesses will pay for an $800,000 truck outfitted with two dental chairs and an X-ray machine.
An additional $500,000 of annual funding will pay salaries of a dentist, hygienists and a program administrator.
Arkansas Children's Hospital will coordinate the program, and the only costs to the district will be electricity to power the equipment.
The mobile unit, or "tooth truck," will park in front of schools for two weeks at a time, providing free dental services to uninsured second-grade children.
The on-site dentist will identify and treat children with chronic dental problems.
The program was believed to be the only mobile unit in Arkansas.
Seven elementary schools have been identified for the mobile unit based on high populations of free and reduced-price lunch students in the second grade, Ludwig said.
The district's official enrollment count, as of Oct. 1, shows 9,744 students, or 56 percent, qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, up from 53 percent last year.
Other districts and schools may eventually join the program, assistant superintendent Ron Bradshaw said.
For 23 years, the nurses have provided emergency food and clothing supplies and reimbursements for health services through the district's social services program, created through community contributions. "If they're healthy, they're going to be successful," Ludwig said. The nurses have helped 1,649 families this year, up from 1,475 last year. Dental problems are often ignored because they are costly and less frequently covered by insurance, Ludwig said. "We chose dental because that's an area where we're very much under-served," she said. Local students with dental infections have had to repeat grades because they couldn't focus on classes, Ludwig said. "These barriers have to be broken down," Ludwig said.
To contact this reporter:
eblad@arkansasonline.com
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