The UNMC College of Dentistry’s Children’s Dental Day, an event held annually by the college, is undergoing an update in 2026.
Under the leadership of Gail Rohlfing, DDS, interim chair of growth and development at the college, Children’s Dental Day will expand with free clinics scheduled in partnership with private dental practices in such locations as York and Hastings, Nebraska. Organizers will continue to offer a smaller event at the college’s Lincoln location (busing children in from other communities). The first event will be held this month, which is National Children’s Dental Health Month.
“Children’s Dental Day reflects who we are at the UNMC College of Dentistry: a school committed to serving Nebraska,” said Dean Gerard Kugel, MD, PhD. “By expanding into communities like York and Hastings — and connecting families to ongoing care — we’re building dental homes, not just delivering a single day of treatment.”
Dr. Rohlfing, a pediatric dentist and graduate of the UNMC College of Dentistry, remembers working at the Children’s Dental Day event as a student more than 30 years ago.
“It was advertised on TV, a free screening, and it had a circus theme,” she said. “We screened the children, and often they became patients at the dental school.”
After returning to the school as a clinical instructor in 2025 and attending last year’s Children’s Dental Day, Dr. Rohlfing began wondering how the college’s formula could be improved.
“I’ve practiced for 30 years, and I’ve done a lot of free dentistry events designed to help families,” she said. “And this is a great event.”
But in the past year, Dr. Rohlfing also has seen many children who attended dental day who later return with ongoing dental problems.
The solution, Dr. Rohlfing said, is to use dental day as an opportunity to establish dental homes for the children within (or near) their own communities.
The first event in this effort will be on Feb. 17, in York, Nebraska, with the help of former UNMC resident Bailey Neville, DDS, who owns Countryside Pediatric Dentistry. In March, UNMC volunteers will travel to Hastings, Nebraska, to work with Jessica Meeske, DDS, of Pediatric Dental Specialists in the same way. More off-site outreach events, for both children and adults, are possible later in the year, as well.
“I always enjoyed participating in Children’s Dental Day,” Dr. Neville said. “We were able to see the benefit that brought to kids who didn’t have access to care. I knew doing this in my community and the surrounding counties and schools would be helpful.
“It definitely provides the opportunity to form relationships with parents and children,” she said.
Dr. Bailey and her team have been doing in-school screenings of children, and UNMC residents, faculty and students will join her in York to treat those with urgent needs who don’t have access to dental care.
“The educational opportunities are endless,” Dr. Neville said. “Being able to speak to children and their parents about oral hygiene, how to take care of their teeth and how to eat, are an important part of Children’s Dental Day.”
In that area, Dr. Rohlfing also is planning an infant oral health education event for parents later this year, working with UNMC dental school volunteers and partnering with pediatricians. The intended audience will be parents of infants within six months of having their first tooth erupt – the recommended time from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry for a child’s first dental visit.
“Parents of children that age are receptive to learning about proper dental care, so this is a program I want to expand,” Dr. Rohlfing said.
The goal of the revamped event is to reach more community members in the state of Nebraska, she said. “We want to reach more areas of the state and establish relationships and dental homes for the patients with providers in their communities.”
Dr. Bailey hopes this month to provide cleaning, exams, X-rays and fluoride to children, “as well as sealants and dental treatment in at least one quadrant of the mouth, if not more, for the kids who are able to tolerate it.”
The success of the effort will rely not only on buy-in from pediatric dentists such as Drs. Neville and Meeske but general dentists throughout the state, Dr. Rohlfing said. “The goal is to provide a program to other practices that would partner with us. We’ve had a lot of practitioners come in from the outside for dental outreach events – so this is a way to go back out in their community and do it a little differently.
“We’re hoping, by being able to go out to the communities, we can provide a greater impact,” she said. “It also gets them established in a private practice in their community, and these practices hopefully then work with them to complete dental work or become their dental home.
“It’s more about treating the child, not just a tooth or two teeth. That’s really my vision for this program.”
Dr. Neville hopes that the smaller event will result in a more positive experience for youngsters.
“With the volume of children who are treated at the traditional dental day, it can be a little overwhelming for children,” she said. “Holding it in a smaller environment, with access to private rooms, will help the kids feel more comfortable.”