Brush, floss and seal

Kids get dental sealant to protect their teeth, thanks to grant funding

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WHITE CITY &

8212; Eight-year-old Noah Mercado sat down in the dentist's chair with healthy teeth, but he left with an added barrier against cavities.

"I feel like my teeth are kind of hard-ish," said Mercado, a third-grader at White City Elementary School.

Mercado and about 65 other students in the Eagle Point School District received dental sealant, a plastic coating that prevents decay when professionally applied to the chewing surfaces of back teeth. New funding will bring the procedure to dozens more kids, in Butte Falls and Prospect, later this year.

Sealants can reduce tooth decay by as much as 90 percent, said Ronalie Sweet, dental program coordinator for Jackson County Health and Human Services. Although sealants have been an accepted dental procedure for about 30 years, they're not common in families without insurance, she said. —

"We're not seeing a lot of kids who do have sealants," Sweet said. "Accessibility is a real issue." This year, a $40,000 grant from the Reed and Carolee Walker Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation paid for the sealants and allowed Community Health Center to expand its dental screening and education program from the Eagle Point School District into Butte Falls and Prospect. Students in those rural towns will get sealants sometime this spring, said Dawn Wille, school health program manager for Community Health Center. —

"It's one of the most cost-effective ways to give dental care," said Central Point dentist Kathy Sprick, who supervised the clinic.

In a dentist's office, sealants cost about $45 per tooth. While the government-supported Oregon Health Plan does pay for sealants, many low-income children may have to wait between four and six months to visit one of the few local dentist offices that accept OHP, Sweet said. In the meantime, decay can set in, she said.

Held Thursday and Friday at White City Elementary School, the clinic allowed kids to miss a minimal amount of school for the painless procedure that takes 15 to 20 minutes. Community Health Center is working to permanently establish the program with assistance from the Walker Fund, said Peg Crowley, executive director of Community Health Center.

"The key, I think for us, is to be able to get to pre-schoolers," Crowley said.

Other partners in the effort are the county health department's dental prevention program, the Children's Dental Clinic, the Eagle Point School District Foundation, Northwest Medical Teams and PacifiCorp.

Community Health Center screened about 875 children in first, third and fifth grades for the procedure late last year. Approximately one-third of kids had insurance and were referred to a dentist for sealants, Wille said.

One-third of the kids had too much decay to qualify them for sealants, but they received referrals for fillings and other care, Wille said. Those who had dental emergencies or lacked insurance were sent to the Children's Dental Clinic in Medford.

Although sealants are a "great protection," Sweet said, kids who participated in the clinic took home a packet of dental hygiene supplies to encourage brushing and flossing.

Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail .

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