By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Dental professionals have often reiterated the fact that students with dental problems – cavities, abscesses, broken teeth – cannot sleep, eat or learn well as they are in pain.
Enter HAFDRA – the nonprofit agency started by sisters Shellie Boydston and Sheri Mundall with Valley of Enchantment Elementary School teacher Jessica Mazakas.
For several years, HAFDRA has provided dental screenings to the students in Rim of the World Unified School District’s three elementary schools. They have identified those who need a referral to a dentist and sent the children home with dental kits including a toothbrush and toothpaste.
More recently, HAFDRA has been able to add dental sealants to the program. Permission slips for both the screenings and the sealants are sent home for the parents or guardians to sign.
With volunteers from the three Rim-area Rotary Clubs – the Rotary Clubs of Crestline-Lake Gregory, Lake Arrowhead and Lake Arrowhead Mountain Sunrise – as well as additional volunteers, Boydston, with the help of other dental hygienists and dentists, first screened 894 students at the three schools. They sent home emergency referrals for 51 students and non-emergency ones for 149. They also made 344 referrals for orthodontic work.
The goal of the screenings, Boydston said, “is to help identify urgent needs, connect families with follow-up care and then provide free sealants to those in need.”
As the dental professionals examined the students’ teeth, they made the recommendation for sealants for those students who would benefit from the procedure.
The team completed 434 dental sealants, which Boydston describes as “a painless and simple preventative cover on the back teeth. It takes just a few minutes per tooth and can prevent a lifetime of future cavities or loss of tooth.”
Boydston estimates the value of those 434 sealants at $30,380 – but all were done at no cost to the families or the school district.
At Charles Hoffman Elementary School, 85 sealants were completed. At Lake Arrowhead Elementary, 141 were completed. And at Valley of Enchantment Elementary, 208 sealants were completed.
“We’re proud of the impact this work continues to make in supporting the oral health of our community’s children,” Boydston said.
She extended a big thank you to all of the volunteers. “We couldn’t have done it without you!”
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