Dental care for the poor

Students of the University of Wisconsin were shocked to find out that only a very small number of people had seen a dentist in the past year. Three undergraduate students of the University are collaborating with wellness centers to provide basic dental health care and education for the residents of a few neighborhoods such as Allied Drive and Belmar.

Community events are organized to educate and to distribute necessary treatments such as fluoride varnish treatments. Because there is a lack of proper dental care many children in these neighborhoods suffer from dental cavities five times more than kid sin their age group suffer from asthma.

There are dental assistance programs and some treatments are reimbursed by the State but this is often a very slow process and a lack of money makes it difficult if not impossible to see a dentist regularly. This is why aid and education is focused towards children and basic skills such as cleansing teeth. Kids who learn how to care for their teeth will automatically stimulate other family members and other children to start caring for their teeth.

One of the treatments offered is a 4-minute fluoride treatment that is very popular in countries such as Finland. The treatment is mainly used on children and prevents cavities. Dr Hosseini from the Center for Cosmetic Dentistry and ten nurses apply the fluoride varnish after which children are not able to eat for three hours or brush their teeth for 12 hours to avoid damaging the varnish.

Hopefully initiatives such as these will be followed by other dentists and nurses all over the country. Preventative methods and education are the best and proven approach to prevent tooth decay and give children a better and more healthy start in life with a smaller risk of losing teeth in later life. As many of these adults and children live on a low income and are often not able to pay for expensive dental health insurance, an educated start will help them stay healthy.