The North Shore Health Care Foundation’s Oral Health Task Force wants to make sure that all children have to access dental care. Grand Marais Family Dentistry’s Dr. Alyssa Hedstrom conducts a screening.
My 3-year-old is obsessed with the milestone of losing her baby teeth. Half terrified at the thought of a tooth falling out; half thrilled at the prospect of a shiny coin under her pillow, it’s all she can talk about during our nightly brushing routine. And puzzled with the logic of grown-up things, she is also obsessed with why we have to “brush of teeff if they’re just gonna fall out.” I try, in simple terms, to explain the whole idea to her and, after getting a foamy, toothpasted “huh?” from her, usually end with “Trust me, you’ll be happier with a mouth full of clean teeth.”
My statement of exasperation was the inspiration behind the North Shore Health Care Foundation’s (NSHCF) Oral Health Task Force. Fully aware that healthy teeth meant healthy children, NSHCF also understood that, while many children in Cook County and Grand Portage were getting good dental care, others were falling through the cracks. Together with Sawtooth Mountain Clinic, Public Health and Human Services, Grand Marais Family Dentistry, ISD 166, Grand Portage Health Services, and the Carlton- Cook- Lake- St. Louis County Community Health Board, NSHCF set out to find out how many kids were not getting good dental care and why.
With the numbers and barriers in front of them, NSHCF did not shy away. Instead, they formed the Oral Health Task Force, a grant-based group dedicated to addressing the dental care gaps and working towards getting that care to the kids who needed it.
With the help of grants and the support of the NSHCF donors, Oral Health Task Force began offering a sliding fee scale program for all children between 18 months and 18 years to cover the dental care needs not covered by other programs. They partner with Grand Marais Family Dentistry’s Dr. Alyssa Hedstrom to offer “mouth screenings” at the local schools during eye and ear tests, following up with the parents of children who need dental care. Hedstrom also does preschool and daycare tours, offering brief screenings, fluoride varnishes and X-rays (with parental permission) for free.
Oral Health Task Force, including Georgene Daubanton, Oral Health Task Force director and Karl Hansen, NSHCF executive director, continues to work towards its goal of all children in Cook County and Grand Portage receiving high-quality dental care.
And because I cannot state it better, I quote directly from their website and say “If it sounds like [they] are bending over backwards to help parents get the dental care their children need, [they] are. A child with tooth decay has an infection that can seriously affect their overall health. A child in pain cannot learn in school. We have to take care of the kids.”
And I, as a parent invested in the bright future of my daughter and all her peers, am quite grateful for their dedication.
For more information, questions about the sliding scale fee program or the upcoming Free Day at the Dentist being offered by NSHCF, visit www.northshorehealthcarefoundation.org or call Georgene directly at 218-387-2334.
Leave a Reply