Posted on: Thursday, October 10, 2002
Maui dental training available
By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor
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| Nursing professor Nancy Professor, front, was instrumental in establishing the Maui Oral Health Center to serve low-income patients and train dental assistants. The staff includes, from left, dentist Wendie Schwab, dental hygienist June Vierra and dentist Daniel Mayeda.
Christie Wilson ð The Honolulu Advertiser |
WAILUKU, Maui — Hawai'i youngsters have some of the worst dental health in the country, and on Maui the situation is made worse by the unavailability of dental care for low-income families.
The new county-financed Maui Oral Health Center in Wailuku will help fill that void while providing training for Maui Community College students interested in the dental profession.
The center, set up in a former dental office at 752 Lower Main St., will be dedicated at 5 p.m. today and will welcome its first patients Tuesday. "The phone has been ringing off the hook," said registered dental hygienist June Vierra, a member of the clinic's staff and an instructor for the college's new dental assistant certificate program.
More than 30 percent of Maui County residents have inadequate access to dental care, according to Dr. Lorrin Pang of the state Department of Health. Because of insufficient reimbursement rates and other issues, most Maui dentists do not accept patients covered by government insurance programs such as Medicaid. As a result, the state must fly children and their parents to O'ahu for dental care.
On a statewide level, 81.5 percent of first-graders in Hawai'i have one or more cavities in their permanent teeth compared with the national average of 6 percent, Pang said, and 16 percent of kindergartners suffer from "baby-bottle" tooth decay compared with 5 percent nationally.
What: Maui Oral Health Center Where: 752 Lower Main St. Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays only to start Appointments: Call 244-4559 or 242-5846. Walk-ins will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays. The Maui Oral Health Center will provide general dental care and cleanings, fluoride supplements, dental sealants, X-rays, nutrition counseling and health screenings. Patients will be asked to donate $1 per visit. Laboratory services for dentures and other needs require additional charges.
The center also will serve as a classroom and clinical site for MCC's two-semester Dental Assisting Program, which started this fall with 13 students. MCC nursing professor Nancy Johnson said plans call for expanding the program to a two-year associate degree in dental hygiene. She said there are plenty of local job opportunities in the field, including in the public health sector.
The Maui Oral Health Center is the result of a collaboration between MCC, the Maui County Dental Health Alliance and Maui County. The alliance includes the Department of Health, the Community Clinic of Maui, the Mobile Care Health Project run by the Catholic Church's Office of Social Ministries, the Veterans Administration Center, the Native Hawaiian healthcare agency Hui No Ke Ola Pono, and dental professionals.
Maui County provided a one-year grant of $110,000 to cover rent and a portion of salary costs. Johnson said the center hopes to tap into federal and state sources for more money.
Dentists Daniel Mayeda and Wendie Schwab and dental hygienists Vierra and Joyce Yamada are serving as faculty and staff for the Maui Oral Health Center. Dentists from the community, many of whom donated dental chairs, X-ray equipment and other gear, will serve as guest lecturers.
Schwab was instrumental in setting up the Mobile Care Health Project three years ago. The project's specially equipped bus serves low-income residents in need of urgent dental care. The Maui Oral Health Center will focus on providing preventive and routine care to families, said Schwab, who now works for Hui No Ke Ola Pono.
"We want to see the children when they're a year old, before they start having problems," she said.
Dental health is important to overall health, particularly for Native Hawaiians and others who suffer from a high rate of diabetes and heart disease, she said. A bright smile is important for other reasons too. "If people have broken or decaying teeth, it affects their self-esteem and it can negatively impact their employment and other aspects of life," she said.
The center will open with limited hours — 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays only. Schwab said additional days will be added when staffing is available. The center is looking for a dentist to join the staff, she said.
Opening Tuesday
