Success Stories
On The Road Again: A Tooth Taxi Update
by Mary Daly, Program Manager, Tooth Taxi
Update Number 29 | 7/30/09 | OASBO
Our 2nd event to bring the Tooth Taxi full circle with our first year was our 2nd showing at the Oregon Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) conference in Redmond. OASBO's mission is to support public education by providing resources, programs, activities and training for business officials. Holly Spruance and Steve McNannay from the OEA Choice Trust, Judy Edgerly from the DFO and Dr. Heringer and I all represented the Tooth Taxi and DFO mission.
The conference was a bit slower than last year but still a lot of interest in the Tooth Taxi from both attendees and vendors. We handed out Tooth Taxi site partner ribbons to school officials from districts that we have visited and received positive feedback from representatives of schools we visited.
Brett Yancey, (Director of Business Operations for Springfield School District and is on the OEBB Board) shared that a young girl from Gateways Alternative School spoke at their Board Meeting about her treatment on the Tooth Taxi – “now she’s not afraid to smile.”
OASBO is a great venue to really connect with the schools and explain how our program operates and the uniqueness of our model. We’ve found that being able to make this connection early on paves the way for a more successful site visit. We passed out several site visit request forms to schools that are interested in hosting the Tooth Taxi.
Holly and Dr. Heringer spoke about the Tooth Taxi at the vendor meeting and after sharing the value of free dentistry provided since our inception were met with a round of applause. The Tooth Taxi parked amidst the junipers outside the Vendor tent was a hit with the vendors while workshops were in session- the vendor tent quiet and hot, the Tooth Taxi quiet and air conditioned. We shared our program with several vendors who were very interested in what we do. I always appreciate the opportunity to share our mission with folks outside the dental profession. Some of the vendors we spoke with: Office Depot, US Bank, Western Bus Sales, Sodexo, LS Networks, Quantum Communications, Atlas Track & Tennis, Sterling Savings Bank, Joslyn Berger from ODS, Hilary Getz from Kaiser Permanente, Sally Kallianis and Darcy Engle from Willamette Dental.
Dr. Heringer visiting with school employees in the Tooth Taxi
Dr. Heringer sharing our State map that shows our past and future travels.
Dr. Heringer visiting outside with LeeAnn Conro of Jordan Valley.
School representatives that visited the Tooth Taxi – Burns, Sheridan, Gervais, Hillsboro, Irrigon, Elkton, Madras, Glendale (Douglas Co.), Roseburg, West Linn, Wilsonville, Centennial (PDX), Phoenix/Talent, Dallas, Beaverton, Rogue River, Baker, Ontario, Huntington, Jordan Valley, N.Clackamas, Junction City, Nestucca Valley, Parkrose, Bandon, Monument, Amity, Canby, Harney, Creswell, Klamath Co., Sherman Co., Cascade, Albany, Ashland, Stanfield, S. Wasco, Hood River, McMinnville, Morrow, Butte Falls, and Educational Service Districts (ESD): Douglas County ESD and Harney ESD.
Kent Hunsaker – Executive Director of COSA (Confederation of Oregon School Administrators) visited the Tooth Taxi. Holly and I attended the COSA conference in June and were hoping to have a chance to touch base with Kent there; but he was so busy with the conference – then we spotted him at OASBO and we were able to spend some quality time showing and telling him about the Tooth Taxi and the mission of the DFO. COSA will be doing a principal conference this October for new and current principals – we were able to tell Kent how key the school principals are when we come to their schools. One of our goals is to see if we can do a presentation in October – or something in the future at one of COSA’s principal meetings.
Departing the conference, backing the Tooth Taxi out of our spot in the Juniper trees was no easy task – see att. photo of Holly & I directing Dr. Heringer.
Other events in July –
Reed College student Charlene Walker, who is from Jamaica and interested in dentistry spent time with us at the Children’s Community Clinic helping with screenings and observing Dr. Heringer during treatment.
Dr. Ten Pas and I attended the DCO’s (Hayden, Willamette, Advantage, Capitol, ODS, Multi-Care, Access Dental, Family Dental, Managed Dental Care) monthly meeting in Salem and gave a presentation about the Tooth Taxi program. Since the Tooth Taxi inception we have provided over $90,000 of uncompensated dental care; our hope is foster relationships with the DCO’s to help shoulder some of the expenses.
Summary (no change since last recap):
Tooth Taxi, September 2008- July 23, 2009
- 3820 students screened
- 359 students received oral hygiene education in the classroom
- 1363 students treated in the van
- $875,770 value of free dental services provided.
Next week on the road:
Oregon Child Development Coalition (OCDC) in Gresham.
Next week’s recap: Tooth Taxi 2nd quarter reports.
Regards, Mary
