TOOTH TAXI PARTNERSHIP LOVE
“We are extremely grateful for the dental services that the Tooth Taxi provides to our students. Sweet Home is an economically disadvantaged community. It is often difficult to get children in for dental care in this town because the 2 dental offices here do not take the Oregon Health Plan insurance and many of our families struggle with transportation. Because of these barriers, many of our children lack dental care. The Tooth Taxi provides dental care to our disadvantaged students who are insured by OHP or who are without dental insurance, who might not otherwise receive any dental care. Thank you for the dedication you have shown and serving our students.”
Jamie Smith, MPH, BSN, RN, NCSN, Coordinator, School Health Services Multnomah Education Service District (MESD)
“Thank you DFO and Tooth Taxi team for an incredible experience with the Tooth Taxi this past week at HomePlate Youth Services. I have heard incredible feedback from staff and youth with their experiences with the staff involved with Tooth Taxi. As you all may know, dental care can be intimidating, especially when it's something that you may not have access to regularly. Our drop-in coordinator Mireya expressed that youth who were anxious beforehand came out of their appointment smiling, in awe of the care and treatment they received, and are already asking when the Tooth Taxi will be back ;) As someone who has helped coordinate external partners with HomePlate before, I can also say that this is the quickest I have seen a sign-up sheet fill up, which clearly expresses the need and want for services like this.
Thank you, again, for your support to your community and to HomePlate. It means so much to be able to offer services like this to folks who are on their path to stability. THANK YOU Amber for connecting us!”
Jaycie Sabala, Development Coordinator, HomePlateYouth Services
“The Tooth Taxi maintains a robust team of dental professionals who are willing to accept any children who need access to dental care. These efforts help youth and their families understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle, making them more likely to engage in improved oral health and return for follow-up dental appointments and preventive care at our HDSC. The Salem Health Community Needs Assessment states that 4.8% of Marion County children and 2.6% of Polk County children do not have health insurance. This means that thousands of youth in our community do not have access to regular dental care or access to health education. For undocumented children, the rates of uninsured are much higher. Ongoing support and services provided by the DFO Tooth Taxi adds credibility to our program and allow us to provide quality dental services and education for youth and families in Marion and Polk Counties.”
Jodi Loper CDA, EFDA | Health & Dental Services Director, Boys & Girls Club of Salem, Marion and Polk Counties
“For years, our school-based dental screenings demonstrated that Highland Elementary had one of the highest urgent dental care rates in our district, but after hosting the Tooth Taxi for two years in a row, the urgent dental care rate dropped considerably. The Tooth Taxi's approach of providing school-site treatment interventions is a successful model! Even the best intending parents commonly cannot get their children in for dental care appointments due to barriers such as transportation, unaffordable deductibles/co-pays, and inability to miss work.”
Jessica Dusek, Dental Health Coordinator, Salem-Keizer School District
We Believe Every Child Deserves Quality Dental Care
We advocate for increased funding for children's dental treatment and education. We support community water fluoridation, a proven and safe way to reduce cavities, and we encourage volunteerism in the dental community.