Read about how the Oral Health for Underserved Uninsured Children program offers services including exams and preventive care in the latest issue of “CATALYST” magazine.
When an 8-year-old girl came to the University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD) in October 2021, she was in great pain. An examination revealed that she needed almost all of her primary molars extracted.
Just over a year later, the extractions had been completed, crowns had been made for intact primary molars, and sealants had been placed on permanent molars — at no cost to the girl’s parents who are recent immigrants and uninsured.
The girl’s dental care was provided as part of UMSOD’s Oral Health for Underserved Uninsured Children (OH-UUC) program, which aims to expand access to dental care for children from Baltimore and surrounding areas.
“Many of these patients’ parents have recently come into the country, have few resources, and don’t know where to go for help,” said Anna Juambeltz, DDS ’21, a second-year resident in UMSOD’s Division of Pediatric Dentistry.
In addition to the extractions, Juambeltz said, UMSOD clinicians fabricated orthodontic appliances that would ensure the integrity of the dental spacing in the girl’s mouth.
“We made the dental appliances in-house because it is less expensive, and we really try to do all we can so that there is no charge to these patients,” she said.
Meeting a Growing Need
Despite significant improvement in the last 15 years in oral health care for Maryland children, great need remains. More than 25 percent of Maryland children under age 17 (an estimated 375,861 children) lack sufficient health insurance, according to the 2018-19 National Survey of Children Health Outcomes, and 48,000 Maryland children do not have health insurance, primarily because they are not eligible for Medicaid.
The OH-UUC program offers services including examinations, preventive care, and comprehensive restorative care. The facilities available to OH-UUC at UMSOD include a 22-chair pediatric dental clinic dedicated to children under the age of 18 years. Providers in this clinic include six full-time faculty, eight pediatric dental residents, and 250 dental students who participate in patient care on a rotational basis.
“I have never seen anyone’s face light up as much as my patient’s parents,” said Jennifer Kim, DDS ’21, a second-year resident who is providing treatment to a 5-year-old boy who presented with nearly 20 cavities. “Now they have a dental home. He is halfway through his treatments, and it seems like it will be a happy ending for him."
Read more about the dental program in the spring issue of CATALYST magazine.
You can read the Spring 2023 issue of CATALYST magazine, which highlights the work of the University's women deans; the School of Medicine’s research to fight malaria; the School of Nursing’s partnership with Enoch Pratt Library to offer health care; the Graduate School’s new MS in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership; UMB’s sustainability efforts to install beehives; and much, much more!
Photo: Second-year UMSOD resident Jasmine Butler, DDS, provides treatment to a pediatric dental patient. Photo by Matthew D’Agostino