It’s that time of year again, when school begins and our Kids Against Cavities campaign kicks into full gear. It’s also one of our busiest times of year, a constant bustle of kids coming in for preventative care and our providers headed out offsite for screenings and preventative exams.Everyone in the office loves this season, because, we get to see how much the kids have grown over the summer and hear stories about their first day of school. Most importantly, we get to reconnect with the kids in our community and evaluate their oral health.
While business continues as usual in the office, we screen students offsite in kindergarten, third and seventh grades at York City School District schools. Additionally, we provide preventative care to children in York County’s Head Start program. At these state-mandated screenings, we utilize mobile equipment to take radiographs, perform exams and cleanings, and apply fluoride varnish. We also identify any decayed, missing or filled teeth and send home paperwork to guardians informing them of our findings and offering Family First Health as a dental home if the child does not already have one.
Coordinating these screenings requires great patience and tenacity, not to mention serious follow through — all characteristics possessed by our awesome dental team. The providers deliver the care, but our team pulls it all together to ensure that each outreach event is a success. We have extreme organizers, awesome schedulers, x-ray experts, IT magicians and an equipment guru. Every one of their skills is used at each event!
At the completion of each event, we pack up and head back to the office. Our work, however, is not complete! The team then begins data sorting, which allows us to identify children with a high number of cavities or those who are experiencing acute issues. School nurses and Head Start coordinators are contacted with this information to help us motivate the parents and encourage them to bring the kids in for treatment.
Outreach opportunities such as these are how we stay connected to our community — and they’re certainly not limited to pediatric care!
Check out our Dental Page on the Family First Health website for more details on the services we provide for the whole family.