Of the 36 pediatric dentists currently practicing in Nebraska, only four have practices in communities outside of Omaha and Lincoln.
That’s chilling when you consider that dental disease is the most common chronic ailment for children ages five to 17.
“Twenty five percent of the children in the state experience 80 percent of the dental disease reported,” said Kimberly McFarland, D.D.S., assistant professor in the department of oral biology at the UNMC College of Dentistry.
To address this challenge the College of Dentistry is implementing a new telehealth and service learning program for its pediatric dental residents.
Dr. McFarland and Timothy Durham, D.D.S., professor of hospital dentistry, recently received a $1 million, three-year grant from the Human Resources and Service Administration (HRSA).
The grant will allow them to use technology to implement rural health rotations as part of the dental pediatric residency training process.
None of the four current pediatric dental residents at the college rotate to sites outside of the pediatric dental practice in Omaha. That’s because they need to attend the required lectures as part of their residency.
But, with funding from the grant, Drs. McFarland and Durham will be able to provide the needed technology to three designated rural sites, which will allow residents to participate in lectures via the Internet.
Each site also will be equipped with intraoral cameras that will allow the director of the dental residency program, Fouad Salama, D.D.S., to see the dental procedure being done and talk to the resident at the same time.
“The cameras and other computer equipment are part of a $125,000 technology infrastracture upgrade at the College of Dentistry that will be provided to the rural clinics where the pediatric dental residents will be working,” Dr. McFarland said. “The funding will provide the necessary infrastructure for the college as well as computer and two-way videoconferencing capabilities used at the off-site locations.”
During the course of the grant the UNMC Pediatric Dental Residency Training Program will place 24 residents in three underserved areas of the state next year. The sites have not yet been determined. In the first year, each resident will spend two weeks at their designated rotation site with an additional week added the next two years of the grant for a total of four weeks.
“We hope they find a community that they really like and want to call home,” Dr. Durham said. “This program will give their training experience a whole new appreciation for the needs of rural communities and we hope this provides them a link to those communities should they decide to practice there.”