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by Kristen Karig, Public Relations

Smiles across the Lowcountry will be a lot healthier once MUSC's new mobile dental health clinic hits the road this August.

The new dental van will improve dental health for Lowcountry children and adults.

The 30-foot state-of-the-art van, equipped with two dental chairs, X-ray units, and sterilization and film processing areas, will provide much needed dental care for underserved children and adults.

In the Charleston area alone, where 50,900 residents are uninsured, the mobile clinic's services—fillings, cleanings, sealants, emergency care and oral hygiene instruction—will go a long way toward improving oral health in the Lowcountry.

Dr. Mark Barry shows one of the mobile clinics two dental chairs.

The plan to take preventive, emergency and restorative dental services on the road was developed by principal investigator Charles R. Hook, DMD, and co-investigator J. Mark Barry, DDS, MBA, both College of Dental Medicine faculty members. The idea was prompted by Hook's past work with a mobile dental clinic in the Caribbean and Barry's experiences serving in the Navy.

“With a mobile unit, as opposed to a stand-alone clinic, we can improve access to dental care for multiple populations,” Hook said.

Grants from the Duke Endowment and the Healthy South Carolina Initiative funded the purchase of the van and equipment and will support its work. A $20,000 grant from Carolina Children's Charity funded the purchase of portable dental equipment to treat special needs children both in the mobile clinic and at other outreach projects. Initially, mobile clinic services will be offered in coordination with other Healthy South Carolina Initiative grants: the Burke High School Health Screening Program, the Innovative Alternatives for Women Program and the Union Heights Community Medical Clinic. Hook and Barry plan to collaborate with other dentists in the communities the mobile van serves to further improve dental health.

The new mobile clinic also provides additional clinical experience and outreach opportunities for dental students. Third- and fourth-year students and College of Dental Medicine faculty will provide dental services in the mobile clinic on a rotating basis.

“Through work in the mobile clinic, we hope to sensitize students to the dental needs and concerns of people in underserved communities,” Hook said.

In addition to providing much needed dental services, the mobile clinic also will raise awareness about dental health. “Education and prevention techniques, especially those targeted for children, have historically been the greatest factor in decreasing the rate of decayed, missing and filled teeth and improving oral health,” Barry said.

Hook hopes the van's presence will inspire future dentists. “Through visits to Lowcountry schools, the mobile clinic will introduce school children to the dental profession,” Hook said. Plans are under way to coordinate a dental sealant and educational program at elementary schools in Charleston and surrounding counties.

The new mobile dental health clinic was unveiled in a ceremony on Thursday, June 24.

Gerald Johnson, DMD, joins the College of Dental Medicine faculty as of Aug. 1 to coordinate mobile clinic activities. Fees for services provided by the mobile dental health clinic will be determined based on a sliding scale according to income, unless patients are covered by Medicaid.

For more information about the mobile dental health clinic, call 792-2255.