Success Stories
On The Road Again: A Tooth Taxi Update
by Mary Daly, Program Manager, Tooth Taxi
Update Number 18 | 5/11/09 | Monument
On our return trek from Jordan Valley we dropped the Tooth Taxi off in Monument, where we plugged the van in for the weekend. Growing up on the east coast I just can’t get enough of the west; still on a high from Jordan Valley which felt like something out of a western novel, I was enamored with the “hangers” the Monument school used for their electrical cords.
Monument School Cord "Hangers"
Dr. Pat Nearing, President of the Dental Foundation of Oregon Board volunteered with us in Monument along with his wife Barb and friends Dr. Pat Sabin and his wife Shirin of Lakeview. Shirin a hygienist worked on the portable chair, set up on the stage in the school. This is the 2nd time we’ve had a portable chair set up on a school stage, nothing like working behind the velvet curtains! With all the volunteer help treatment was completed on 22 students out of the 33 seen. Being able to complete treatment gives the student a good foundation to then hopefully find a dental home and puts them in good standing for another 6-12 months. This is one of our success factors that can’t be measured in dollars. Students were seen from neighboring Long Creek and Dayville schools as well as Monument students.
The 2 Dr. Pats @ work
Visitors in Monument: Robert Gootee (ODS) and his wife Roje, the Grant County Sheriff (no one was apprehended) and six school employees.
There are no restaurants in Monument, the rooms at the Monument Motel & RV Park where the team stayed had kitchenettes. The school invited us to eat in the cafeteria for breakfast and lunches. It’s not every day a dental team joins the students and some were not bashful at all about joining our table. Jennie Mund, school secretary had the team over for dinner one night, which was a feast. Additionally, entertainment was provided by a dozen hummingbirds jockeying around three feeders.
Monument weather was classic Oregon: snow, rain, hail and sun all in one day. Some of the team mentioned to me that it was eerily quiet in Monument, less chaos and quite peaceful.
From the student gallery:
Jakob, a 5 year old Kindergartener from Monument, received treatment on Tuesday including a stainless steel crown and pulpotomy (where the nerve of the tooth is removed) as well as a filling. On Wednesday morning, while eating breakfast, Jakob exclaimed with a big smile, “That tooth is working out just fine.”
Jakob was seen again on Wednesday and when asked what his grandparents thought about the stainless steel crown he received on Tuesday he said, “Oh they liked it and they thought it was cool.” When asked what his friends thought about it he said, “Oh they loved it!”
Jakob, a happy Tooth Taxi client
Monument stats:
- 48 students screened
- 33 students treated in the van
- $20, 346 value of free dental services provided.
Summary
Tooth Taxi, September 2008 - May 13, 2009
- 2227 students screened
- 359 students received oral hygiene education in the classroom
- 1001 students treated in the van
- $641,681 value of free dental services provided.
Fringe benefits of the job: elk, deer, antelope. Kayaking on a pond just outside of town; paddling in a bird sanctuary.
With a smaller school district and volunteer contributions the team finished up in Monument on Wednesday afternoon. They packed up and headed to Madras (the next scheduled stop) and began treatment there on Thursday to be continued this week.
Next week on the road:
Tooth Taxi heads to Brooks Elementary in the Gervais school district (Marion Co.)
Next weeks recap:
Buff Elementary School in Madras
Regards, Mary
