Dental students ‘give kids a smile’

February 8, 2010 by Hannah Birch 

Free clinic for low-income children could suffer if budget is cut

About 150 children received free dental care on Feb. 6 at the UNLV School of Dental Medicine through a clinic targeted to assist low-income families.

Staffed by local professionals and more than 150 UNLV dental students and faculty, the eighth annual Give Kids a Smile clinic provided comprehensive care for families in need. More than $200,000 in clinical care has already been donated through previous events.

“Our patients here are the ones that fall through the cracks,” said Karen West, dean of the school of dental medicine. “A lot of them are only doing the ‘have-to’ stuff. We try to make getting dental care easier.”

Nearly 30 percent of kindergartners in Nevada have not seen a dentist in the past twelve months, according to a health survey conducted by the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research and Policy.

The American Dental Association recognizes February as Children’s Dental Health month and helps organize community clinics to promote proper care for children.

Last year, more than 50 local dentists donated their time and joined forces with student dentists to help provide care in Las Vegas.

“A lot of places do the screening and diagnostic process, but we do cleanings, fillings, implants, x-rays, root canals, everything,” said Leslie Karns, associate dean for clinical services. “It makes us a little bit different.”

Many patients are referred after being screened at their elementary schools.

Jeremy Cox, a student dentist, spoke of a 10-year-old girl he had been treating, saying teachers had noticed she wasn’t eating her lunch at school. When they asked her why, Cox said she told them her teeth hurt.

“Her mouth is full of cavities,” he said. “She has no control over that. Whether she realizes it or not, we’ve helped her immensely.”

Most children at the clinic were prescreened a few weeks ago after it was determined that their families were unable to afford the care they need. A child’s eligibility depends on the financial situation of their family and factors like health insurance coverage.

Karns cited the dental school as an optimal location for the event because of the equipment available, including 165 dental chairs and advanced technologies. “We’re totally electronic,” she said, pointing out instruments like monitors by each chair used to display x-rays, or movies for younger patients.

Cox spoke of the value the clinic experience has for students and patients.

“It reminds you why you got into dentistry in the first place,” Cox said. “Up until September, I was planning on general [dentistry] 100 percent.”

Cox said he changed his mind after working with kids in clinics like this and is now plans to attend a pediatric dental program in Nebraska after he graduates.

“For a child, it makes a big difference,” he said. “There’s so much satisfaction in treating children.”

Proposed budget cuts are a big consideration for the school of dental medicine, which faces potential deletion.

“If UNLV cuts our budget, we wouldn’t be able to do this,” said Afsha Bawany, the public affairs specialist for the school of dental medicine.

Because any program accredited through the ADA is subject to rigorous standards including a set curricula, down-sizing the dental school would be a complex process.

“We’d have to let staff and faculty go and we’re down to bare bones now,” Karns said. “I don’t know how we could operate.”

West encouraged students from UNLV’s main campus to consider the dental school for health care alternatives.

“Our prices are [often one half of] what they would be elsewhere, ” she said. “And we accept the UNLV insurance plan.”

In addition to the annual Give Kids a Smile event, the school of dental medicine holds clinics on Saturday mornings to provide care for children and veterans.

Staffed by student dentists and overseen by school faculty and community professionals, these clinics operate largely on donations, both of money and of time.