ADA News

Mesa, Ariz.—April 16 was Give Kids A Smile day at the A.T. Still Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, where sunshine, children, volunteers, toys, balloon animals and—of course—smiles were plentiful.

Post-op fun: GKAS participant Miranda shows off the face painting she received after her dental visit.

All in all, 46 volunteer dentists, 232 dental and dental hygiene students, and nearly 100 lay volunteers and support staff gathered to provide 313 Mesa Public School District children with much-needed dental care valued at about $200,000.

"It's amazing to see how much this program has grown since we started in 2003," said Dr. Michael Smith, a board member for the Arizona Dental Association's charitable arm, the Arizona Dental Foundation, and a third-generation dentist in Phoenix. "We have a great group of volunteers who have donated their time and talents at programs all across Arizona. We have terrific donors and sponsors who help offset the costs. And we are reaching more and more children in need every year. It’s really exciting to watch it evolve."

Dr. Greg Pafford, a Phoenix general dentist and ADF president, has been providing charitable dental care in the community for more than 20 years.

"I started out holding a Christmas dental day in my office, and in addition to providing dental care to kids who couldn't afford it, we included Santa and gifts into the celebration," said Dr. Pafford, who has served as GKAS chair in Arizona since 2003. "When the ADA launched the national Give Kids A Smile, I was part of the state leadership and we felt that the program was a great model for Arizona dentists. Since 2003, we've worked hard to maintain momentum, and it's been growing steadily ever since. We work with school nurses to help identify kids who have oral health issues and get them prescreened before the event. And we appreciate the support of our sponsors, who donate funding, time and effort to help children in need receive dental care."

The first school bus of the morning pulled up around 8:30 a.m., and students from Lowell School—dressed mostly in red shirts—arrived for a morning of dental care and entertainment.

All in the family: Siblings Ashton, Mikayla and Matthew wait for X-rays at the dental school.

Students from other schools sported shirts in other colors—creating seas of color in the waiting area of the clinic as children gathered to meet Molar Man (Dr. Gary M. Johnson of Phoenix) and the Tooth Fairy (Debbie Rindal, a lay volunteer who has been participating for five years)—and helping volunteers more easily identify children by school group during the event.

ASDOH Dean Jack Dillenberg was on hand to greet children, cheer on volunteers and headline a 10-minute program that included a proclamation from Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and a brief statement by Arizona State Rep. Cecil Ash.

"This is a great opportunity for our students to learn from dentists in practice," said Dr. Dillenberg, "and a great opportunity for our volunteer dentists to get to know the students and give them a sense of what a career in dentistry will be like. When students work in the dental school clinic, they tend to be very meticulous, and they take their time. This exposes them to a real-world atmosphere that shows them how to work quickly and efficiently."

Some dental students served as escorts, taking kids and their charts from X-ray to triage to hygiene to treatment. And older students assisted volunteer dentists at chair side.

Escort Bao Huynh, a first-year student from Mountain View, Calif., helped Matthew and his sister Mikayla navigate from the waiting room to the X-ray area to triage during the first few minutes of the event. Close behind was their little brother Ashton. The three siblings, students at Jefferson Elementary school, ranged from first to fifth grade. All smiles, they said they have a family of eight and this is their second time visiting a dentist.

Keeping busy: Children waiting for their escorts to X-ray, triage, dental hygiene and treatment stations keep busy with educational coloring/activity books donated by Phoenix’s own dental hero, Molar Man (also known as Dr. Gary M. Johnson).

Dr. Bob Price, a private practice dentist in Phoenix and an adjunct faculty member at the dental school, examined an enthusiastic Ashton as second-year student Roberta Kerr, who hails from South Dakota, assisted.

"GKAS is really a lot of fun," said Dr. Price. "The kids are happy to be here. It's a great service we can provide to the community, and it offers great experience for dental students who are enhancing their clinical skills."

"The kids are great," added Ms. Kerr, "and I'm enjoying seeing this as a second-year student, where I have different duties than I did last year. Students here have duties depending on what year they are in, and they get excited about moving up each year."

In the hygiene area, a spry older gentleman was creating smiles by handing out his balloon animal creations.

Ken Anderson, a Phoenix-area resident and patient at the dental school clinic, heard about the GKAS Day during a dental appointment the week before. "I told them I'd like to help, so I’m here today making balloon animals for the kids. It's something I love to do, and I wanted to come today and help out."

Triage: Phoenix dentist and GKAS volunteer Dr. Bob Price examines first-grader Ashton during the dental school event.

Outside the doors, first-year dental students manned activity tents for the kids to enjoy after their dental visit. Kids visited face painting and coloring stations; a Lions Club tent where they received a free book; a free eye exam tent provided by national vision benefits company, Davis Vision; and other areas featuring games like corn hole, mini golf and other sports games. Each tent provided participating children with a punch on a punch card, and before they headed back to school, kids could redeem the card for a toy donated by Scottsdale oral and maxillofacial surgeon Sabah Kalamchi and his children. The Kalamchi children have been raising funds and buying and donating the toys since the Mesa GKAS program began five years ago.

"Give Kids A Smile is an important dental school function," said Ilan Shamos, a first-year student from Phoenix, as he played catch with a youngster. "We are having a great time. It's great spending time with the kids."

The ASDOH event is just one of a dozen Arizona GKAS clinic-based programs planned throughout this year by the ADF. In addition, more than 30 private dental practices also observe GKAS each year by providing care to youngsters in their offices. Annual events also include a GKAS near the Arizona Capitol each fall, to help bring awareness to policymakers about the importance of oral health for the overall health and well-being of children.

From 2003 through 2009, Arizona’s GKAS programs provided nearly $2.3 million in free dental care—and more than 17,000 volunteer hours—to treat more than 7,500 children statewide.

"It's terrific how much the program continues to branch out," said Kevin Earle, executive director of the Arizona Dental Association. "In addition to enabling Arizona dentists to reach more and more kids in need, it's giving us opportunities to show legislators and policymakers how important oral health is and how many children in our state lack access to oral health care."

GKAS supporter SmartPractice, a Phoenix-based company that markets products and services to health care professionals, has donated more than $46,000 from its annual SmartScramble golf tournament since 2006. The 2010 golf tournament held in the afternoon of April 16, following the volunteer clinic event, raised another $20,000 for Arizona GKAS programs.

"SmartPractice understands the importance of good oral health and its relationship to overall health," said Tina Strickler, director of business development. "The company even offers its employees lower health insurance rates when they have a yearly dental exam."

Other supporters this year include United Concordia Dental, Rotary International, Henry Schein Dental and Soredex.