Success Stories
On The Road Again: A Tooth Taxi Update
by Mary Daly, Program Manager, Tooth Taxi
Update Number 15 | 4/20/09 | North Lake School
In an unusual turn of events we started our week off early Monday morning with ADI (TT van outfitters) and ended with them late Thursday evening. Tim Kitch of ADI had some clients in from Louisiana that he wanted to show the van to. We met them at the Plaza at 7:00 a.m. Two ladies with southern accents as thick as honey, they loved the van and our program. I then received a call from Tim Wednesday afternoon; ADI had a booth reserved at a convention in Las Vegas for the weekend but the "show and tell" van coming from Tennessee had been side-swiped on a bridge en-route, so they were without a show vehicle. With arrangements from our sponsors an agreement was made to loan out the Tooth Taxi for a trip to Vegas. Yes, the Tooth Taxi in Las Vegas! I haven't seen pictures of the Tooth Taxi on the strip yet, but our beautiful van was very well received at the show and ADI is grateful for our assistance.
After our van showing Dr. Heringer, Geneva and I headed to Silver Lake, Oregon's outback country. James was off on a dental service trip with MTI in Guatemala last week, experiencing Mash unit dentistry, lots of extractions and cold water instrument sterilization.
Fort Rock, Christmas Valley and Silver Lake are the three rural communities that make up North Lake K-12. School mascots: the Little Buckaroos, the Cowboys and Cowgirls. The school sits atop a hill in the middle of the three communities all of which are sparsely populated. Land is cheap here, desolate and remote, fields of unending sagebrush sprouting trailer homes. Beautiful country, but clearly understand how its nicknamed Oregon's outback. Growing hay and raising cattle on a large scale seem to be the economic backbone. Many of the student's families are employees for these large operations.
Our visit coincided with Earth Day. Students sported Earth Day t-shirts and classes went out wearing gloves and carrying plastic grocery bags to pick up garbage around the campus. The irony of this is the school has no recycling, the first school we've encountered without a recycling program.
I thought it would be a quiet week after Springfield, no volunteers, servicing one school - its dangerous to think that way. We had power issues all week. Monday and Tuesday a lot of time was spent on the cell phone out by the generator. After troubleshooting Monday, ADI decided to send a service rep Tuesday morning. Dr. Heringer took this position with a 30 year resume of pediatric dentistry. After his Tooth Taxi stint he will need to update his resume as we've given him exposure to some new career choices for retirement: long haul motor home driver, chief technician, on-site trouble shooting mechanic, large vehicle washing, etc. (see att. Photo of Dr. Heringer under the van). It was very hot on Tuesday, the air conditioning too much of a power strain, the Tooth Taxi toasty, dentistry in an 85 degree operatory. ADI service tech Peter identified a crack in the gas line to the generator (gasoline again?). He replaced the hose, but in the afternoon the generator would roar and then die down, creating a power surge and then start all over again. We cancelled our last appointment of the day. When I called the Mom to re-schedule for a 7:00 a.m. appointment the next day she groaned.but our student was there at seven. The next two days were cooler, so the generator seemed happier. We kept our power usage to a minimum.
Dr. Heringer under the van
Tuesday we stopped at the Pump store in Christmas Valley for some electrical plug adaptors (back up plan to move Tooth Taxi over to school shop for a plug-in). We had time to catch a quick kayak paddle on the Thompson reservoir in the Freemont National Forest before the sun set. Kayaking the calm and peaceful waters was the perfect antidote to a day of heat, gas fumes, constant generator vibrations and power surges.
This is an email that Holly Spruance received from the N. Lake Assistant Principal:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------From: Carol Dowsett
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 10:10 AM
To: Holly Spruance
Subject: tooth taxi at North Lake
April 24, 2009
Dear Holly, What an amazing service the Tooth Taxi has been! Parents have told me stories and wept and shouted excitedly as they've explained what's been done for their children. They want to know when this can happen again. I understand that the visit out here has to be cut short due to generator problems with the van. All students needing help may not be seen. But, the work that has been done is incredible.
Our community thanks you!
Carol Dowsett, Assistant Principal, North Lake School
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
We didn't have to cut our visit too short, we did some re-scheduling and were able to treat 6 patients on Thursday before leaving town.
We stayed at The Lakeside Terrace Motel in Christmas Valley, this trip was good for our budget, motel rooms $42.80 per night. No internet access but we did have cell service. I had to spend my last night in a smoking room - I picked a little sage to put under my pillow to combat the smell, the room was no frills: bare light bulbs, screen-less windows, gurgling plumbing, a clean ash tray, exposed electrical outlets on one wall, and a power strip on the other wall. The rooms were clean and surprisingly had thick bath towels, not the thin linty ones you would expect in a place like this. Listening to the waterfowl and the frogs out on the "lake" all night made up for the lack of amenities. We were at 4500' elevation so the cool crisp night air helped mitigate the stale smoke smell. I love experiencing the character of the area that we get to glimpse in the communities we visit. This trip was all about rusty farm tools, decorated fences and sheds, skulls and chainsaws on gateposts. Wednesday evening we went over to Ft. Rock, although the park closed at 6:30 (the time we arrived) we still managed to scramble around the rocks until dusk.
Tooth Taxi Team with Mom & Daughter Volunteers
The volunteer parents at the school who helped to escort kids and make up toothbrush packets for us practically bestowed sainthood on Dr. Heringer. They were calling him the miracle worker and kept sharing their awe at how much work he did, how positive the kids were coming from the van, and how he helped their own children. It was something to see their reaction and behavior to these kids having a positive dental experience; clearly they did not expect that. They'd pick up students in the van and high-five us and say "great job Doc." Susan, one of the parent volunteers gave Dr. Heringer a hug and wrote us a thank-you note.
The flavor of the stories from students reflected the culture of the area:
Dr. Heringer asked a high school student how she got sunburned "rounding up cattle".
A high school student in the dental chair watching cartoons said he "hadn't seen TV in 5 yrs as theirs got turned off."
Dr. Heringer: "I'm going to clean your teeth." Patient: "I cleaned them last night."
Our young patient told us his Border Collie is named Gus. Junior, his Border Collie before Gus, died. "He was in the back of the pick up and he fell out and died."
We saw one of our High school patients (that had already been treated) in the library when we went in to screen more kids. She told us "My mouth didn't hurt last night and I woke up today and it doesn't hurt."
There aren't a lot of restaurant choices, so all our meals were at the Feed Barn in Christmas Valley - we'd get a large sandwich for dinner and save half for lunch the next day (usually for lunches we make sandwiches from Safeway deli 'fixings', but the markets in town were as limited as the restaurants). Dr. Heringer asked one of his older patients: "Ever eat at the Feed Barn?" Reply: "Well, not really, the person that owns the Feed Barn got in a fight with my Dad."
Dr. Heringer: "How many kids in the family?" Reply: "4, actually 5, the oldest one died, my Mom's really sad."
High School patient in the chair: "I'm sure glad my Mom signed me up for this because it hurts at the dentist in town."
Jo the 'bus barn' supervisor came out to see the Tooth Taxi and told us - "All the kids are happy, its nice they've had a positive experience. Maybe now they'll go to the dentist."
I used the computer in the library to look up OHP eligibility information (we didn't use the satellite with the generator issues, tried to minimize the power load). The English teacher came over to me and told me she wanted to get out to the van but hadn't had the chance. "I've nothing but praise for you." When I finished she came out to the van with me. She mentioned one of her HS students we saw was very impressed (he was a category #4 and late with paperwork so a later screening). She said his family doesn't have a lot of means, and then followed it with "most of our families don't have a lot of means."
North Lake stats:
- 74 students screened
- 21 students treated in the van
- $20,014 value of free dental services provided.
Summary:
Tooth Taxi, September 2008 - April 23, 2009 2133
- students screened 359
- students received oral hygiene education in the classroom 928
- students treated in the van
- $596,195 value of free dental services provided.
Fringe benefits of the job -multiple deer sightings, one lard herd of about 60, jack rabbits and bald eagles.
Next week on the road:
Tooth Taxi heads to Jordan Valley to serve schools in Malheur County.
Next weeks recap: The Oregon Education Association Convention and Oral assessment screenings around the State (since Burns school cancelled our visit this week).
Regards, Mary