BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Good health includes clean teeth, and one program is making sure thousands of Vermont students have pearly whites year round.
Over 40% of children in Vermont experience tooth decay. With the Health Department’s 802 Smiles program, officials are trying to reduce that number.
The Essex Westford school district might be considered more suburban than rural, but some people still have trouble accessing dental care.
“It’s a struggle for families, especially the younger population of students, families with students that are younger, getting them in initially,” said School Nurse Alyssa Jacobs.
Jacobs says in her work – both in healthcare and with students – there can be a shortage of providers, and not every family has the insurance to cover dental visits.
“Our lower level, elementary schools, we’re really seeing frequent visits of students coming in missing classes with pain, oral pain,” said Jacobs.
Jacobs says they’re limited in what kind of symptom treatment they can provide and can refer students to providers, but they’re not always available.
The district partnered with the state to bring 802 Smiles to schools – a network that provides dental care and connects students with providers if necessary.
“A lot of the treatments that we’re able to provide can really help reduce the amount of issues that people are seeing because you know, Left untreated oral health issues they can lead to in the emergency room,” said Dental Hygienist Michael Messina.
Through 802 Smiles, the district has screened over 1,500 students who opted in this year.
Messina says the district discovered 12.5% medium to high urgency needs from the screenings.
“We do our best to contact the parent first off, like that day, right? And let them know about the situation. And then we have a list of providers that we can help connect them with. One issue that we do see is there’s sometimes a language barrier with parents,” said Messina.
The 802 Smiles program is in 166 schools, and Debora Teixeira of the Department of Health says that number is growing, adding around 50 more this year than last. She adds that more and more schools are choosing to do higher-level interventions.
A statewide basic needs survey shows that one in four children need dental care, with 6% needing it urgently.
“Post-pandemic, we’ve seen a worsening in most of the indicators. So markets now need urgent care, more kids are not getting the sealants they need to protect their teeth, or the preventive visits. So there’s a need more than ever,” said Teixeira.
The Department of Health says the program is funded by the CDC, and some schools provide funding as well.