Mobile dental clinic drives miles to brighten area kids’ smiles

An area dental office is brightening children’s smiles, as well as their lives, through an innovative approach.

Miles for Smiles, a local CMH dental clinic, serves 11 counties in southwest Missouri with its mobile dental clinic. The mobile unit is housed in an RV and is complete with two dental chairs and a full set of tools.

“We can do everything on the mobile unit that we do in an office,” Jean Morrow, director of the junior volunteer program, said. “We provide full dental services for those in need.”

According to Morrow, the mobile clinic has been in use for some time. While the concept is not new, the need for the program continues to grow.

“We have had our mobile program since 1999, and we have really grown over the years,” Morrow said. “We now reach 11 counties.”

Morrow said the unit is specifically designed to service children with no dental insurance or Medicaid. She said the service is especially important to those with state-provided insurance.

“Ninety to 93 percent of our patients have Medicaid,” Morrow said. “Of the 11 counties we reach, only five have dentists who provide dental services to those who have Medicaid. It’s a huge need.”

Dr. Dan Vogl, along with dental hygienists, travel in the mobile unit and provide services during the school day. Morrow said it is especially important to reach the children during the hours they are at school so as to avoid extra travel and time away from work for family members.

After receiving their care from Dr. Vogl and his staff, the kids go home with a care package.

“We give the students bags with toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss to take home,” Morrow said.

Morrow said Miles for Smiles struggles to reach more communities each year and is always looking for support from the community.

“We have schools call us each year to ask us to come to their schools, and we have to turn some away because of the distance,” Morrow said. “We just can’t reach everyone. But there are a lot of kids who just can’t get the dental services they need.”

One area business, FCS Financial based in Springfield, recently donated $3,000 to the program to help reach those in need.  Miles for Smiles plans to use the funds to purchase much needed tools and supplies for their mobile unit.

“While we are based in Springfield, we love to reach out to surrounding communities in southwest Missouri and donate to great organizations in the area,” said Terrie Ware of FCS Financial.

In addition to its mobile unit, Miles for Smiles also has a dental office in Bolivar where Dr. Steven Marshall provides dental services to the community. For more information, call the Miles for Smiles office at 328-6334.    

Source: http://bolivarmonews.com/business/mobile-dental-clinic-drives-miles-to-brighten-area-kids-smiles/article_bdfd6be8-988e-11e5-bf28-1b4e2cc079bb.html

In other dental news: Aurident offers the Optimet DS 6000 Scanner which uses patented proprietary conoscopic holographic technology to generate highly accurate and consistent scans.

The DS 6000 Scanner can be used for all dental applications such as copings, full contour crowns, bridges up to 14 units, implants, implant bars and dentures.