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The offfice is comfortably warm and busy as usual. While the dentist finishes up his exam of one child, the hygienist cleans the teeth of another. Child-sized x-ray bibs hang on blue walls decorated with colorful fish, and the laminate floor is clean despite the muddy sidewalk. Sounds like a typical dentist's office, but it's not. This dentist office is on wheels.
The Miles for Smiles Mobile Dental Clinic is actually a large bus, converted into a compact but fully functional dental facility. Funded substantially by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine and run by Penobscot Community Health Care (PCHC), it caters to Maine kids through the age of 18 who don't have private dental insurance or who are eligible for MaineCare. Offering services like cleanings, fillings, root canals, and oral health education, "Smiles" is the only mobile unit in Maine of this size and magnitude.
"We don't always think about the health of our mouths like we think about the health of our bodies," says Victoria Kuhn, strategist for Anthem of Maine, "but they're integrally connected."
Due to the low number of dentists in the state, Maine is considered to be an underserved state when it comes to oral hygiene. That's why Miles for Smiles' mission-to take the dental care to youngsters that need it-is so critical, especially in such a rural state.
"Beyond Bangor, the medical and dental services diminish," says Vicki Rusbult, manager of community outreach for Penobscot Community Health Care. The rolling clinic focuses on the most critically underserved communities in central and northern Maine, with monthly visits to Pittsfield, Skowhegan, Presque Isle, Houlton, and Dover-Foxcroft.
Each traveling team consists of one dentist, a hygienist, and a caseworker, who doubles as the bus driver. Over the course of one week, they will see about 40 children. When the program first started in November 2003, the majority of the children who visited the clinic had never seen a dentist before. Now, many of their patients are receiving regular care.
"It's just like a private practice," says Carol Williams, dental services coordinator for PCHC. "It's important to have a dental practice with someone you can see repeatedly."
The traveling office has its advantages for both patients and staff. "The bus is more down-to-earth for the kids," she says. On the caregiver's side, dentists who take part in the program also get a lot of hands-on experience working with young patients-something they don't get much of in dental school.
Along with being a mobile dental office, the colorful vehicle also travels to health fairs and takes part in parades and other events, providing early oral health education and promoting healthy habits.
Miles for Smiles was originally pioneered by Anthem of Colorado. When it began here, there were a lot of naysayers about the mobile unit working in Maine's winter climate, Williams says. But Anthem and PCHC figured if they could do it in snowy Colorado then it could work just fine in northern Maine. And so far it has. But it's not always been easy.
"To make ends meet is a huge challenge," says Ken Schmidt, CEO. "It wouldn't have gotten on the road without Anthem's contributions." Since 2002, Anthem of Maine has invested $1.4 million into the Miles for Smiles program, and will continue to help fund the program until 2008, when PCHC will take over and finance it.
Since the program is committed to bringing dental care only to areas that are underserved, the needs of each area are constantly reassessed. The clinic used to travel to Millinocket, but the addition of a dental practice that served MaineCare patients meant they could relocate to a more needy community.
The vehicle itself, including the dental equipment, costs around $400,000, and it isn't cheap to maintain. A special diesel fuel is needed to heat it in the winter. And though all the instruments and equipment are secured during each commute, things still break. Each week's clinic team must also be fed, put up in a hotel, and compensated for their time away from home.
Now, Rusbult says, PCHC's focus must turn to finding future funding. "The need is still out there. It hasn't diminished since the program started." To date, the van has traveled over 29,000 miles and has been home to over 33,000 dental procedures.
Last year, the mobile unit served about 3,500 children. "If we had put it in one place, it would have been cheaper-but we wouldn't have been able to impact as many kids," Schmidt says. When Penobscot Community Health Care takes over the program next year, she hopes potential funding sources will agree that 3,500 smiles are worth the drive.
The Miles for Smiles Mobile Dental Clinic is actually a large bus, converted into a compact but fully functional dental facility. Funded substantially by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine and run by Penobscot Community Health Care (PCHC), it caters to Maine kids through the age of 18 who don't have private dental insurance or who are eligible for MaineCare. Offering services like cleanings, fillings, root canals, and oral health education, "Smiles" is the only mobile unit in Maine of this size and magnitude.
"We don't always think about the health of our mouths like we think about the health of our bodies," says Victoria Kuhn, strategist for Anthem of Maine, "but they're integrally connected
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Due to the low number of dentists in the state, Maine is considered to be an underserved state when it comes to oral hygiene. That's why Miles for Smiles' mission-to take the dental care to youngsters that need it-is so critical, especially in such a rural state.
"Beyond Bangor, the medical and dental services diminish," says Vicki Rusbult, manager of community outreach for Penobscot Community Health Care. The rolling clinic focuses on the most critically underserved communities in central and northern Maine, with monthly visits to Pittsfield, Skowhegan, Presque Isle, Houlton, and Dover-Foxcroft.
Each traveling team consists of one dentist, a hygienist, and a caseworker, who doubles as the bus driver. Over the course of one week, they will see about 40 children. When the program first started in November 2003, the majority of the children who visited the clinic had never seen a dentist before. Now, many of their patients are receiving regular care.
"It's just like a private practice," says Carol Williams, dental services coordinator for PCHC. "It's important to have a dental practice with someone you can see repeatedly."
The traveling office has its advantages for both patients and staff. "The bus is more down-to-earth for the kids," she says. On the caregiver's side, dentists who take part in the program also get a lot of hands-on experience working with young patients-something they don't get much of in dental school.
Along with being a mobile dental office, the colorful vehicle also travels to health fairs and takes part in parades and other events, providing early oral health education and promoting healthy habits.
Miles for Smiles was originally pioneered by Anthem of Colorado. When it began here, there were a lot of naysayers about the mobile unit working in Maine's winter climate, Williams says. But Anthem and PCHC figured if they could do it in snowy Colorado then it could work just fine in northern Maine. And so far it has. But it's not always been easy.
"To make ends meet is a huge challenge," says Ken Schmidt, CEO. "It wouldn't have gotten on the road without Anthem's contributions." Since 2002, Anthem of Maine has invested $1.4 million into the Miles for Smiles program, and will continue to help fund the program until 2008, when PCHC will take over and finance it.
Since the program is committed to bringing dental care only to areas that are underserved, the needs of each area are constantly reassessed. The clinic used to travel to Millinocket, but the addition of a dental practice that served MaineCare patients meant they could relocate to a more needy community.
The vehicle itself, including the dental equipment, costs around $400,000, and it isn't cheap to maintain. A special diesel fuel is needed to heat it in the winter. And though all the instruments and equipment are secured during each commute, things still break. Each week's clinic team must also be fed, put up in a hotel, and compensated for their time away from home.
Now, Rusbult says, PCHC's focus must turn to finding future funding. "The need is still out there. It hasn't diminished since the program started." To date, the van has traveled over 29,000 miles and has been home to over 33,000 dental procedures.
Last year, the mobile unit served about 3,500 children. "If we had put it in one place, it would have been cheaper-but we wouldn't have been able to impact as many kids," Schmidt says. When Penobscot Community Health Care takes over the program next year, she hopes potential funding sources will agree that 3,500 smiles are worth the drive.
Reader Comments:
Driving past PEAK REHAB CENTER in Skowhegan today, I saw your WONDERFUL 'MILES FOR SMILES' bus....I Co-produce/Direct KEEPING PACE (a panel program for BeeLine Community Access TV Channel 11 with Skowhegan-Madison viewing area). Please let me know when the bus will be in this area again....viewers deserve to know about your great effort.
katie ouilette
nanapa@beeline-online.net