Success Stories
On The Road Again: A Tooth Taxi Update
by Mary Daly, Program Manager, Tooth Taxi
Update Number 40 | October 19, 2009 | Baker City
Baker City located on the historic Oregon Trail was settled in 1874 during the gold mining rush. Today it is advertised as “The Premier Rural Living Experience in the Pacific Northwest.” On the Eastern side of the State it sits in the valley between the rugged Elkhorn Mountains and the jagged, snowy Wallowa Mountains. We were fortunate enough not to experience snow first-hand! The Tooth Taxi team parked at Brooklyn Elementary playground area and treated students from several schools in the Baker City district. The students get to choose a prize after treatment in the Tooth Taxi and the bouncy ball is a favorite. We saw several kids chasing bouncy balls on the playground as one little girl proudly shows me hers.
Our contingent of dental volunteers came from La Grande: returning volunteer and DFO Board President, Dr. Patrick Nearing, and new volunteer, Dr. Eli Mayes, a La Grande native who spent the past three years practicing dentistry in Barrow Alaska! The ODS Hygiene School students that will be graduating in March worked at two portable chairs in the school: Sydney Craven, Heather Dewey, Kristi Heinze, Bailey Smith, Jennifer Hayes, Krystal Hinkle, Danielle Tams, Mary Buchheit, Carmen Maher, Brittney Proctor, and instructor Amy Benson. Carmen Maher was the dental assistant on the South Dakota mobile dental van prior to coming to the ODS Hygiene school. I and DFO Board members Dr. Ten Pas and Dr. Goger have all had the pleasure of working with Carmen when she was on the South Dakota van.
ODS Hygiene School students that will be graduating in March
Returning volunteer Jim Jobes from our sponsor OEA Choice Trust also graciously gave of his time to serve on the van.
Visitors to the Tooth Taxi included: Ed Hayhurst Business Manager for the school district (Ed visited the van at Oregon Association of School Board Officials (OASBO) in July and is retiring this year) with Principal Troy Fisher and new Business Manager Doug Dalton.
Our visit to Baker City was captured in the Baker City Herald newspaper:
http://www.bakercityherald.com
Our Assistant, James Olcott, gave oral hygiene presentations to 9 classrooms, grades 1-3, reaching 200 students. There are always stories from the kids; this one reflects the ranching lifestyle of the area. James was presenting to 1st graders and talking about their different teeth and what they are used for. “What are canines used for?” “They are used for biting, like biting a piece of steak.” One of the students raised their hand and asked “Do vegetarians have the same teeth as people who eat meat?”
It was a busy week with 2 hygiene chairs running, kids coming from other schools and volunteer dentists. While James was giving presentations to students I took the hot seat as the dental assistant for our volunteer doctors.
From the kid gallery:
“That’s the tooth I was trying to pull.”
“Are we going out to that big trailer?”
“Everyday I forget to brush my teeth.”
Patient: “Is this real laughing gas?” Dr. Heringer: “yes”. Patient: “Cool”
I was walking in the school hallway and a little boy approaches me and says: “Can you look at my tonsils?” “They’re not right”.
Dr. Mayes treated Max and his twin sister. It was Max’s 1st time to the dentist. When finished he runs out of the Tooth Taxi to his Dad who was waiting. “Hey dad they pulled my teeth and I didn’t feel a thing.”
Dr. Mayes and the Twins
Realities from the road:
Dr. Heringer’s patient told him: “I live with my fake mom, she’s my step mom.” Dr. Heringer: “Your one of those lucky kids with 2 moms.” Patient: “I like them both, but I can’t see my real Mom because it’s against the law, she did drugs.” Dr. Heringer: “Even grown-ups make mistakes.”
Our processes have evolved over the past year, we used to screen students only on Mondays but soon realized that it is often the kids who return paperwork late that are most in need of treatment. Our week in Baker City rang true on this. We had screened 129 kids, and Thursday morning (our last day in Baker City), the school coordinator asks if we can screen one more 1st grader. We did and the little boy had an abscessed tooth, we got him on the schedule to extract it. Later that morning our coordinator received paperwork on another little boy and asked if we could screen him; another abscessed tooth that we took care of. This is the beauty of our model, spending up to a week at a site we build community with the school and the word gets out to the local community that kids are having positive experiences and we are trustworthy. The paperwork continues to roll in.
Fringe benefits of the job:
Multiple deer sightings, elk, fall colors, and rugged snow capped peaks. In the waning daylight hours a quick evening trip to Sumpter Junction to visit the historic and massive gold dredge built in 1912.
Baker City stats:
October 19- October 22, 2009
- 132 students screened
- 200 students received oral hygiene education in the classroom
- 78 students treated in the van
- $35,663 value of free dental services provided.
Summary:
Tooth Taxi, September 4, 2008- October 22, 2009
- 4650 students screened
- 944 students received oral hygiene education in the classroom
- 1843 students treated in the van
- $1,161,528 value of free dental services provided.
Next week on the road:
Gates Elementary School, Gates (Santiam Canyon school district)
Next weeks recap:
A.C.Houghton Elementary in Irrigon
Regards, Mary