College of Dentistry to provide free services in the Panhandle

Eighty students, dental faculty and staff from the UNMC College of Dentistry will spend today and Saturday tending to the oral health of 200 children in western Nebraska.

This is the fifth year the dental college will offer dental services, at no
cost, to children in the Panhandle region of Nebraska.

“The response from families seeking care for the services has been overwhelming.” David Brown, Ph.D.

The dental college will set up shop in four Panhandle communities — Sidney, Alliance, Chadron and Gordon — where children who have been pre-screened by local dentists will receive a variety of services including cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, cavity fillings, education and emergency care as needed. The total cost of services to be provided is estimated at $100,000.

“The response from families seeking care for the services has been overwhelming,” said David Brown, Ph.D., executive associate dean at the UNMC College of Dentistry, noting that five children already are scheduled for oral surgery at the hospital in Alliance and that waiting lists are growing at every site.

The following is a list of participating sites:

Alliance: D.N. Taylor Jr., D.D.S., and Paul J. Maxwell Jr., D.D.S., 916 W. 10th; Box Butte General Hospital, 2101 Box Butte Ave.

Chadron: Prairie Pine Lodge, 900 W. 7th St., Chadron; Terry Owen, D.D.S, 101 E. 6th St.

Gordon: Gordon Community Hospital, 300 E. 8 St.

Sidney: William Printz, D.D.S., 1340 10th Ave., Sidney; Summit Dental Group — Mike Neal, D.D.S., Melanie Kroft-Albers, D.D.S., Leasa Hlavinka, D.D.S., 2678 11 Ave.