Melissa Bailey Photo
Irelys Joseph gets a checkup.
After going out of commission amid a hospital takeover, a super-sized dental van will return to the streets — back visiting kids like 5‑year-old Ana, a Fair Haven School student who discovered she had 16 rotting teeth.
The dental van, which is really an enormous, 18-wheel semi-truck, visited schools and tended to kids’ untreated dental needs for 16 years under the ownership of the former Hospital of St. Raphael. The dental van was placed out of commission during the hospital’s takeover by Yale-New Haven Hospital, according to Sharon McCreven, a dental hygienist who coordinated the program for all 16 years.
For the past year, the truck has been parked in a lot, out of use, McCreven said.
Contributed Photos
The dental truck, when it was owned by St. Ray’s.
Now Fair Haven Community Health Center, a federally funded clinic on Grand Avenue, has bought the truck for $42,500. The center expects to put the truck, which has two full dental exam rooms complete with waiting rooms, back into service later this month.
Yale-New Haven Vice-President Vin Petrini said the van was shelved because it was “underutilized.”
“We had a very robust pediatric and adult dental program at Yale-New Haven, so post-merger, there was some redundancy” in services, he said. “We felt that working together with Fair Haven, we could broaden the level of service and better utilize the van.”
“We did sell it at a very discounted rate,” Petrini said, “and we are providing financial support to help subsidize some of the costs moving forward, so we can meet the needs of the community.”
Meanwhile, McCreven, who left Yale-New Haven to join the health clinic, has been back in Fair Haven schools, screening new patients.
The return of dental services met great enthusiasm at Fair Haven School, the city’s 800-student beacon for newcomer and immigrant students.
So far, McCreven has begun to make her rounds through Fair Haven School, Clinton Avenue School and John Martinez, where Fair Haven CHC runs school-based health clinics. She said the need is tremendous, especially at Fair Haven, where some immigrant and refugee students have never seen a dentist, or have never gotten their teeth professionally cleaned.
Students like Ana (whose name has been changed to protect patient privacy). Ana was one of 18 students whom McCreven screened in one kindergarten class. Of the 18, 12 had problems needing further care, such as cavities.
McCreven looked in Ana’s mouth and found that 16 of her 20 teeth had potential cavities. (As a dental hygienist, she cannot diagnose cavities, but can flag them for dentists.) Ana was one of several students who showed up in McCreven’s chair to reveal serious dental neglect. It turned out she was eligible for state health insurance, HUSKY, but her parents, who are from Guatemala, didn’t know it. McCreven referred her to Yale-New Haven Hospital’s free care clinic. She will have to be knocked out with anesthesia and undergo surgery.
“It’s sad to think that when you’re 5, you need one-day surgery,” McCreven said. “She may lose some teeth.”
Kids with poor oral health are three times more likely to miss school than those with healthy mouths. School attendance among young kids is a key indicator of whether kids will succeed in school — or end up on a track of poor school performance that puts them at risk of dropping out.
McCreven’s goal is to identify kids who need urgent care, such as Ana — as well as provide key preventive care.
“We’re really looking for the kids that don’t have a dentist,” McCreven said.
The dental truck will accept HUSKY and private insurance. It will also accept uninsured patients, such as undocumented immigrants, on a sliding scale. (That fee scale has not yet been determined.)
McCreven reported to Fair Haven School on Tuesday morning. She walked the hallways in search of her first patient, 5‑year-old Irelys Joseph (pictured). She brought her back to the basement “body shop,” or school-based health clinic, which has a dental chair. Irelys lay down in the chair, stiff as a board. She looked warily at McCreven.
“Open. Very nice!” cooed McCreven. “They look so good and clean!”
She prepared to put on fluoride varnish, which strengthens the tooth’s enamel and protects against cavities.
“It’s going to taste like melons,” McCreven told Irelys. “It’s going to be sticky.” But it will make the teeth “really strong.”
Irelys obliged. As a reward, she received toothpaste, a toothbrush, flossers and a coloring book. The total visit took under 10 minutes.
“By doing preventative care often, and seeing the same person often,” going to the dentist can become “less traumatizing,” noted Rose Pudlin, who oversees the dental program on behalf of Fair Haven CHC. Pudlin said the clinic, which was founded 42 years ago, has never offered dental services up until now.
When St. Ray’s dental truck shut down, Fair Haven clinic staff started to think about how to start offering dental services, she said. Buying the truck — and with it, securing McCreven — turned out to be the perfect solution. The van will visit city schools and will also park near Fair Haven clinic once a week as part of its pediatric clinic, Pudlin said.
McCreven returned Irelys to class and headed upstairs to find her next patient, 6th-grader Lizbeth Maldonado (pictured). Lizbeth had been in math class, learning about graphs made of dots.
“I was kind of happy” to escape to the dentist, she confessed.
Lizbeth, who moved here six years ago from Mexico, does not have health insurance. She was suffering from an off-and-on toothache.
McCreven looked inside her mouth and found evidence of “possible decay.” She also found evidence of gingivitis, a gum disease. A buildup of plaque can cause an infection, McCreven explained.
“Do you have any dental floss at home?” McCreven asked.
Lizbeth looked back inquisitively.
“The stuff that goes between your teeth,” McCreven explained.
McCreven pulled out a long band of floss and showed her how to use it. Then she gave her the fluoride treatment — and her cell phone number.
“If that tooth really starts to hurt, call me,” McCreven said.
She told Lizbeth that she will be back in a couple of weeks with the dental van. On the van, she can do more preventive care, such as putting sealant on molars and pre-molars before they decay.
When the van is up and running, students will be able to see not just McCreven, but two part-time dentists and a dental assistant.
McCreven’s third patient, 3rd-grader Malikhi Odums, was in the middle of a chess game when she knocked on his classroom door. He grudgingly walked down the hall.
“Are you nervous?” she asked.
“No,” he replied.
McCreven asked him to pick up his pace.
In the dental chair, Malikhi squirmed.
“Ouch!” he cried out when McCreven turned on the light. “It’s burning my eyes!”
She told him to close his eyes.
“I’ve gotta cough,” he protested moments later, asking her to take her dental instruments out of his mouth.
McCreven gently proceeded. After a few moments, she pronounced the visit done.
Malikhi jumped out of his chair and ran out of the clinic, squealing.
McCreven smiled.
She jotted down notes from the visit: Apparent cavity. Could use sealant. A great candidate for her return visit — next time aboard the truck.
Past stories on Fair Haven School:
• Toni Harp & “Toni Harp” Take History’s Stage
• Harries Floats Class-Size Switcheroo
• A “Snowball” Aims At Latino College Gap
• New Recess Rules Kick In
• Boys Find A Place On The Stage
• Bilingual Ed Overhaul Under Way
• New Havener Of The Year
• Common Core Hits Fair Haven
• Firefighters Respond To The Turkey Call
• VH1 Helps 15th City School Start Tooting
• Mr. Shen & Ms. Benicio Hit The Books
• Maneva & Co. Take On The ‘Burbs
• Aekrama & Ali Learn The Drill
• Fair Haven Makes Room For Newest Students
• From Burundi, A Heart Beats On
• As Death Nears, She Passes Down The Dance
Confused: if they have a dental clinic in the school itself, why do they need the truck? More explanation would be helpful.
[Editor's note: They don't have a dental clinic. They have a school-based health clinic and one reclining chair. There are no dental health professionals there, nor the equipment of a full-fledged dental office. -- Melissa]