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Taunton program brings dentist to schools for needy children
SouthOfBoston.com

By Michael J. DeCicco, Enterprise Correspondent

Jovannie, 7, is about to have his teeth checked as he sits in a small, foldable reclining chair behind the stage curtain of the Elizabeth Pole School in Taunton.

The collection of dental equipment next to him is either foldable into portable size or in milk crate-sized boxes that open like suitcases.

Jovannie said he's not nervous. “It's fun,” he said. “I'd rather have it done here.”

He's there thanks to the Mark J. Doherty Oral Health Center, which is headquartered at Taunton High School and brings dental services to needy students at various schools. The program is part of the statewide Commonwealth Mobile Oral Health Services program.

Doherty, a Lakeville resident and Taunton native, is administrator of both the Taunton and state programs.

The Taunton center is one of 250 such sites across the state. The newest center on Martha's Vineyard opened in October.

In Taunton since November 2001, Doherty and his staff, Christine Walkden and Mohamad Elgazzar, rotate through the Taunton school system providing dental services to children from pre-school through high school who don't have access to such care because they are uninsured or underinsured yet need the attention to prevent future problems. The equipment is packed into the staff's own vehicles for each visit.

Doherty said it's important work because bad oral health can affect everything else about a child's development.

“It's been found that children that have problems with oral health have developed educational problems, speech and nutrition problems, and they can have disease problems,” he said. “A higher amount of those with oral disease develop heart problems, diabetic problems.”

By seeing children early, the dental staff can determine which children are susceptible to oral disease, he said, and can educate them and their parents and provide early intervention to head off greater problems with oral disease.

For instance, he said, parents transfer the bacteria that causes cavities when they taste-test their infant's food, and sippy cups and bottles carry bacteria and should not be used after age one.

“The mouth is the portal for the rest of the body. So it has social connotations, it has health connotations. It has nutritional connotations, and it has developmental connotations,” he said. “The earlier we treat oral disease, the less negative effect on all of those components.

Bringing the service to the children means minimal interruption of their school day — an appointment takes no more than 30 to 45 minutes — and the parent doesn't have to take time out of work to take the child to a dentist office appointment.

“And in populations that are already economically challenged, that parent can least afford to miss work,” Doherty said.

Also, he said, the child is much more at ease in the comfort of his own school, near his peers and educators. “So they're easier to treat,” he said.

Elizabeth Pole School nurse Susan Dickinson said she likes the program because of its convenience.

“It's wonderful. My toothaches I can send them right over. The children can pay attention to class if they are without pain,” she said. “They are seen very quickly here and they go back to class, so they don't miss a lot.”

Doherty said he has administered portable dental care since the 1970s. He is also the dental director of the Dorchester House Multi-Service Center in Boston, and his involvement with the Taunton program grew out of his work there.

The Taunton program began after former school Superintendent Gerald Croteau noticed that students were missing school because of oral health problems. He found it was difficult for these children to find appointments and that they were uninsured or underinsured.

The Dorchester program received $550,000 in grants from the Department of Public Health and the Mass Access Program of the UMass Medical School to build the Taunton site.

The portable services provided in Taunton include cleanings, cavity fillings, fluoride applications and the cavity prevention method of sealing susceptible areas of young teeth. Minor oral surgeries are referred to the center.

Doherty said the dental services are provided principally to children with Mass Health insurance, but no one is denied. Students at the high school and the middle school come directly to the center.

The program is supported by the Greater Attleboro-Taunton United Way and grants from the Oral Health Foundation, part of Delta Dental of Massachusetts.

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