OKEECHOBEE — The Florida Department of Health in Okeechobee County has partnered with the Okeechobee County School District to provide children with dental assessments and preventative treatment using the mobile dental unit since August of 2016. This program teaches children proper brushing techniques and assesses their teeth for a healthy smile. Tooth decay in children is the single most common chronic childhood disease and it is preventable. Untreated tooth decay is painful. Children with poor oral health have been shown to miss school due to oral health problems and it can affect a child’s ability to focus in school.

The dental hygienist goes to the schools with her equipment, to provide dental education, fluoride treatments, and dental sealant to the students with signed permission forms. Permission forms are sent out to the parents at the beginning of the school session. Once the permission slips are returned to the school, our dental hygienist schedules with the principle of that school, then, once permission is given, the school schedules dates and sets aside space for the dental program in each school. After the dental assessment, if the child needs a dental sealant, each tooth in need, has dental sealant applied by Jamie Wander, Dental Hygienist, FDOH-Okeechobee. Dental sealants can prevent permanent teeth from getting cavities and is recommended to be sealed as soon as the permanent molars appear in the child’s mouth. A sealant is a thin plastic coating that keeps food and germs off the chewing surfaces of teeth. Sealants can protect against 85% of chewing surface cavities. After the dental sealant is applied, a Fluoride treatment is placed on the child’s teeth. If a child needs a referral to a dentist, this is added to the form sent home with the child to give to their parents explaining what oral health treatment was completed.

In their first year, the 2016-2017 school year, 127 students received 609 services from FDOH-Okeechobee’s Mobile Dental Unit. Their goal is to increase the number of students and services provided every year. The 2017-2018 school year provided 604 children with 2,339 services, the 2018-2019 school year provided 566 children with 2,477 services, and the 2019-2020 school year provided 621 children with 2,390 services.

Due to COVID-19 mitigation strategies and restrictions, during the 2020-2021 school year they were only able to serve 219 students with 657 services. The primary focus is kindergarten through middle school to educate on proper dental hygiene, apply fluoride treatments, and applying dental sealant to permanent molars.

Studies have shown, for every $1 spent on dental sealants, it saves $1.88 in fillings. Savings calculated on the amount of time a child does not miss school, for oral health issues, because of the success of the dental sealant program-priceless. The FDOH-Okeechobee dental sealant program fulfills a need to protect underinsured children’s health and is coordinated with the full support of our community partner. This aligns with Okeechobee’s Community Health Improvement Plan and with Florida’s State Health Improvement Plan.