There's a trend to add dental care to the list of health services that schools provide.
New Haven is adding five dental clinics to its public school health centers. But as access to dental care -- especially for children -- is still a concern in some parts of Connecticut.
The new clinics will offer basic dental services to all public school students in New Haven, regardless of what school they attend.
"The goal for us is to make life as simple as possible for families," said New Haven Superintendent Garth Harries. "For us adding dental services to five of the clinics was a natural next step to try and make sure that we're taking care of our students, that we're giving families a full range of options to be able to care for their kids within the school system."
New Haven's efforts are part of a growing trend to add dental care to the list of health services that schools provide.
Jesse White-Fresé, executive director of the Connecticut Association of School Based Health Centers, said access to adequate dental services has been a concern in Connecticut for a years. Part of the problem is that most people don't think that oral health is that important, compared to the rest of the body.
"There's a lot of work going on I think around the country certainly in realizing that poor dental health impacts your whole body, and all of your systems. It's not just in your mouth," White-Fresé said.
Poor students and ethnic minorities are most at-risk of having problems with their teeth that go unaddressed,according to the state Department of Public Health. The problem made national news in 2007 when a 12-year-old Maryland boy died after bacteria from a toothache spread to his brain.
White-Fresé said that dental access has improved since then. A Connecticut class action lawsuit in 2008 helped increase Medicaid reimbursements to dentists, so more dentists began to participate.
It will cost New Haven about $150,000 to set up its five dental clinics. Across the state, 21 school districts offer health clinics for students, but only eight provide dental care through the clinic. Other schools offer dental services through community partnerships.
