Dental Day serves 200 children

Fouth-year dental student Brian Ozenbaugh applies a crown to the bottom left tooth of 10-year-old Alan Loeza of Grand Island. Loeza said he wasn’t scared of the dentist or the drill they used to remove the cavity from his tooth.

Alan Loeza, center, with Angela Curry, a second-year dental student, and Brian Ozenbaugh, a fourth-year dental student, at Children’s Dental Day Feb. 3.

More than 200 children from 10 communities, including Lexington, Madison, Grand Island, Burwell, Ord, Hastings Norfolk, Schuyler, Crete and Lincoln, attended the UNMC College of Dentistry’s ninth annual Children’s Dental Day on Friday, Feb. 3.

Services provided at the one-day event included cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, cavity fillings, education and emergency care as needed.

“Children’s Dental Day is an opportunity for the college to exercise both its education and outreach missions,” said David Brown, Ph.D., executive associate dean, UNMC College of Dentistry. “The annual event helps underserved Nebraska children, while providing an opportunity for dental and dental hygiene students to gain more clinical experience.”

Last year 1,000 children received more than $390,000 worth of services through Children’s Dental Day events at the UNMC College of Dentistry in Lincoln, Omaha, several communities in the Nebraska Panhandle and Hastings. The UNMC College of Dentistry hosted its first Children’s Dental Day in the fall of 2001. The value of care delivered over the past four years by the UNMC College of Dentistry totals more than $750,000.

Never fear, the super heroes of Children Dental Day are here! Pictured from left are dental students: Jennifer Rohleder as a tooth fairy, John Nesiba as Ortho Man, Megan Kreycik and Kathryn Tascione as tooth fairies and Tyler Schuurmans as Pedo Man.

While upper level dental and dental hygiene students worked in the clinics, many of the first-year students facilitated games or dressed up as costumed characters to entertain the children. Lunch and healthy snacks also were provided.

“This is great,” said Susan Rodriguez of Beemer, Neb. “It’s a blessing to have a program like this for people who can’t afford to go to the dentist. And they make it so much fun for the kids.”

Rodriguez accompanied her 10-year-old son, Danny, and 8-year-old daughter Ruby to dental day.

The Rodriguez family was on hand to greet members of the Husker Spirit Squad and Husker mascot Lil’ Red when they stopped by the College of Dentistry to entertain the children during the afternoon.

Husker mascot Lil’ Red gets a tour of the gross anatomy lab from Stan Harn, Ph.D., and UNMC Public Affairs media specialist Vicky Cerino.

The children chosen to participate in the event were identified and pre-screened in their communities by volunteers. School nurses, dentists and dental hygienists donated their time to identify needy children and provide oral health screenings that indicated the type of care the children would need when they came to the college.