Dental Students, Dentists, Health Departments, and Local Colleges to Work Together

Ann Arbor, MI — April 21, 2011 — The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is expanding its community outreach program in the Traverse City area and is launching a new outreach program in the Thumb area of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.  The efforts are based on the results of pilot programs earlier this year in Traverse City and Bad Axe showing a need for additional oral health care and a willingness among local providers to participate.

Beginning next month, U-M dental students will work with private practitioners, local health agencies, and community colleges to provide oral health care to the underserved and underinsured.  These experiences will complement other School of Dentistry outreach initiatives throughout Michigan.

Traverse City

Starting May 19, four to five U-M dental students will spend three days a month in Traverse City working alongside 12 local dentists.  The local dentists have a long-term record of volunteering their time and services to provide dental care on behalf of the Traverse Health Clinic that serves low income, uninsured adults.  During the eight-month program, dental students will work two days in the office of Dr. Ronald Chao and one day at Grand Traverse Oral Surgery under the direction of Dr. Wayne Olsen.

Rene Louchart, dental health director of the Traverse Health Clinic, said the need for more practitioners providing dental care is critical.  “More than 700 low-income residents came to the Traverse Health Clinic for oral health care last year compared to 450 a year earlier,” she said.  “There is a growing need for access to quality dental care, and our new arrangement with the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and community dentists is one that will benefit the underserved in the Traverse City area who need that care.”

Joining the U-M dental students and volunteer dentists will be students in the dental assistant program at Northwestern Michigan College, a publicly funded community college serving people, organizations, and businesses throughout the Grand Traverse region.  The arrangement will also enable registered dental hygienists, under terms of the Michigan Public Act 161 which became law in 2005, to take preventive measures without a dentist’s prior authorization, to help to meet the oral health needs of underserved groups in clinics such as the Traverse Health Clinic. 

The oral health care services provided include examinations and treatment plans.  Treatments will include extractions, restorations, crowns, and dentures.  Funding for the initiative is possible with gifts from the Les and Anne Biederman Foundation and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.  Complementing the funding are the efforts of nearly 40 community dentists who, according to Louchart, donated approximately $200,000 of oral health care services last year.

Bad Axe

The program in Bad Axe begins May 19 at the office of Dr. Michael Bills, 1011 S. Van Dyke Road.  Three dental students will provide care Thursdays and Fridays for the next seven months.

Three health departments in the area and several community dentists will be a part of the local effort.  Each two-day session will include U-M student dentists and dental assisting and dental hygiene students from Baker College.  Bills hopes the initiative will become a year round program with funding from health departments in a three-county area.  

Widespread Interest

“Our School’s community outreach efforts have attracted an incredible amount of attention and interest among U-M School of Dentistry alumni.  Other oral health care professionals across Michigan have also expressed a desire to participate in the program,” said Dr. Bill Piskorowski, director of outreach and community affairs.

For more than a year Piskorowski has held meetings with dental professionals in both areas to learn more about the need for oral health care services for the uninsured and underinsured and assess the willingness of local dentists and local organizations to be a part of the School’s outreach efforts.  “I’m incredibly pleased with everyone’s enthusiasm and willingness to participate.  All will benefit as a result,” he said.

Building on Success

The new outreach efforts build on the success of the School’s Summer Migrant Dental Clinic outreach program in the Traverse City area which began in 1973.  “The long-term success of that program has given us important insights which served as a springboard to enhance our community outreach initiative more than ten years ago and to these new efforts in Traverse City,” said Piskorowski who also noted dental school students are working at another clinic in Traverse City run by Michigan Community Dental Clinics North.

The School’s outreach program changed significantly 11 years ago when it became a year-round program now totaling 10 weeks per student.  During the past six years, dental students have treated more than 58,000 patients and have performed more than 121,000 procedures at community clinics, federally qualified health centers, and other facilities in approximately 18 Michigan communities.