Success Stories
On The Road Again: A Tooth Taxi Update
by Mary Daly, Program Manager, Tooth Taxi
Update Number 16 | 4/27/09 | School Screenings and OEA Convention
Friday and Saturday, April 24th & 25th, the OEA Choice Trust had a booth at the Oregon Education Association (OEA) 2009 Representative Assembly held at the Red Lion hotel in Jantzen Beach in N. Portland. Holly Spruance, Maurice Hicks, Steve McNannay and I attended (see att. Photo showing Holly Spruance with the OEA). We handed out Tooth Taxi Site Partner stickers to attendees from schools that we’ve visited and those we are scheduled to visit. We also distributed the Tooth Taxi site partner request forms which will help us to manage requests and ensure we have a commitment from our potential school partners.
Holly Spruance with the OEA
It was a great opportunity to familiarize delegates (who attended from all over the state) with the Tooth Taxi and explain our model. Many still think that we are the “dental van” (MTI) so very beneficial to have the chance to share our program and mission. Many teachers came by and said “Oh, the Tooth Taxi came to our school”. Comments:
West Park School in Hermiston - “Kids now smile and do not hurt anymore; you did some wonderful things for our children.”
“If you’re true to your teeth they won’t be false to you.”
A teacher from a SE Portland school told me that she grew up in a large family and didn’t get dental care until it was too late and teeth had to be pulled. She took 3 request forms, 1 for her school and 2 for other needy schools. On Saturday she came back to the booth and told me she’d handed out the 2 forms and had a meeting scheduled with her principal on Monday to talk about the Tooth Taxi.We also had delegates who wanted information about Tooth Taxi to share with their dentists and hygienists to have them volunteer.
One idea to help the schools identify advocates to prepare for the Tooth Taxi visit is to pull from the Retired Teachers Association. They had a booth at the Assembly as well and were willing to hand out and collect volunteer forms from retirees interested in helping with the Tooth Taxi when in their school district. We received an enthusiastic response from potential volunteers.
The highlight of the assembly was the election of officers for the OEA. Gail Rasmussen, ardent supporter of the Tooth Taxi was elected President of the OEA. Gail in her out-going role as vice-president spoke of the OEA Foundation, sharing with the audience photos of the Tooth Taxi and stats on services provided. When she shared that there had been over $500,000 in free dental care for students the room of over 800 delegates erupted in applause. Gail ended her speech noting the services provide “visible and lasting impact on students.”
With Burns school district canceling our visit the week of the 27th, we took the opportunity to screen students at some schools slated for a Tooth Taxi visit in the next few weeks. Screenings took place at two schools in the Gervais school district, schools in Madras and a loop through Monument, Long Creek and Dayville schools. This gives us a different perspective on the status of dental decay if we can screen all students first vs. only students that have completed the paperwork. We’ll evaluate this process to see how different results are and how efficiently this system works. The other advantage to pre-screening is the chance to introduce ourselves to the schools, one more step in preparing them for our visit. It also allows us to work out parking and electrical hook up for when the Tooth Taxi is on-site.
On the 29th I gave a Tooth Taxi presentation to the senior dental hygiene students at Pacific University at their clinic in Hillsboro. After my presentation to about 30 students, 5 came and spoke to me in earnest about volunteer opportunities. Dr. Heringer will be added as adjunct faculty so the students can work on the van until they are licensed. The program at Pacific has an emphasis on public health so is a nice tie in to providing service on the Tooth Taxi.
And that Tooth Taxi trip to Las Vegas? A note from ADI:
“The Las Vegas trip was a very successful trip. Thank you so much for the use of your van. There were many jealous people after seeing your van. Thank you again for letting us show off the Tooth Taxi in Las Vegas.”
Tooth Taxi stats:
September 2008 - April 23, 2009 (no change since last recap)
Summary:
- 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.
*Students that have been pre-screened will be added to the totals during the Tooth Taxi site visit.
Next week on the road:
Tooth Taxi heads to Grant County: Monument, Long Creek and Dayville schools.
Next week’s recap:
Jordan Valley schools in Malheur County.
Regards, Mary
