Mobile Dental Clinic Planned in Charles

A years-long effort to bring dental health care to underserved areas of Charles County could take a major step forward, thanks to the combined efforts of religious groups and private companies.

A fifth annual dinner theater production planned for the spring, catered by the Crossing at Casey Jones restaurant in La Plata and presented at neighboring Grace Lutheran Church and School, will provide funds for a mobile dental clinic that will bring dentists to children at their schools, churches and community centers.

"We got a call from a lady in Nanjemoy, and when we took a drive down there, we saw how bad things really were," Gary Fick, executive chef at the restaurant, said of the impoverished southwestern part of the county. "We thought there had to be some way to help those kids, and because dental health has been on the radar screen for a while, we thought, 'Why don't we address that?' "

Problems in Maryland's dental care system for uninsured children and families on Medicaid were dramatically underscored in February 2007, when a 12-year-old Prince George's County boy died after a tooth infection spread to his brain. Since then, state task forces have studied the problem and possible solutions, including getting more dentists to volunteer in poor areas and better awareness among parents about the importance of dental hygiene.

More than 14 percent of Charles students have dental problems classified as urgent, county health officials said.

In the spring, the Charles Department of Health opened Southern Maryland's first publicly funded dental clinic, in Waldorf. The clinic is free to children whose families receive Medicaid and operates on a sliding scale for other families, based on their income and insurance.

The county is also home to Health Partners, a private, nonprofit organization that has a pediatric dentist for needy children. Health Partners will operate the mobile dental clinic once it is up and running, project planners said.

"I had been talking to the principal at Mount Hope-Nanjemoy Elementary School, and she said her biggest problem in terms of educating children was dental health," said Don Zimmer, executive director of Grace Lutheran Church and School. He said studies show that children with dental problems often perform poorly in school.

The mobile clinic will travel frequently to Mount Hope-Nanjemoy, as well as to other gathering places in the area and to other parts of the county considered in need, Zimmer said. When it is not needed in Charles, the clinic could visit neighboring counties, he said.

Equipping a mobile dental unit will cost about $40,000, Fick said. The Knights of Malta, a Roman Catholic order, have donated $25,000, and organizers hope to raise $15,000 during three dinner theater performances of the musical "Godspell" in the spring. The Jaycees, Civista Health Center and local government officials are also involved in the planning.

The next major challenge, Fick and Zimmer said, will be recruiting volunteer dentist to staff the clinic. The group has invited 200 dentists to a dinner Nov. 6 at Mount Victoria Farm in southern Charles, where they will encourage them to donate a few hours a week to the project.

"We want to see this used seven days a week, if possible," Fick said, adding that 10 to 20 dentists would be ideal. "There are plenty of children in need, so we want to be able to get to all of them."