Northwest Medical Team to Aid College
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Instead of turning to the emergency room for urgent dental treatment, students will be able to obtain dental aid on campus for free this term.
The mobile dental van will be set up near Jacoby Auditorium Monday Nov. 10. The van is a no-cost service to students who can show a dire need for dental assistance.
Northwest Medical Team, a group of volunteer licensed dentists, hygienists and dental assistants, will perform the basic operations to aid students in fixing minor dental problems.
“The main goal when a patient arrives for their appointment is to care for any emergency needs first, get them out of pain, then address other dental issues they may have,” Andrea Bean, Health Services Associate Professor at UCC, said.
The dental van serves students through evaluations, x-rays, amalgams, resin, sedatives and extractions.
Students interested must fill out a pre-screen application on or before Nov. 5 at 5 p.m. The applications are available at the information desk in Campus Center. Students must meet some requirements in order to qualify: a student may not have dental insurance, the student must not be seeing a dentist and the household income before taxes must be under 200 percent of federal poverty level.
This year, current UCC Dental Assisting students will help other UCC students by offering a tooth whitening system upon qualification. This opportunity is being offered to the students at UCC through the Fund for Innovation from the UCC Foundation called “Campus Smile Project.”
“I’m looking forward to the Dental Van being here on November the 10th to help screen possible student candidates to receive a free bleaching system from the UCC Dental Assisting Students attending course work 2014/2015 as part of their training,” Bean said.
The Dental Assisting students will take impressions of qualifying students’ teeth, pour the models and trim them, then fabricate whitening trays and deliver the whitening system to the qualifying students. The activity is meant to provide hands on experience in a dental materials lab.
“It is a really great service on campus. We are really grateful for them [Northwest Medical Team] to come work with us,” Marjan Coester, director of Student Life, said.
“We hope that by presenting the dental van as an option for students with dental issues, they may be able to rid the distraction and help their ability to focus,” Coester said.
The Mobile Dental Van first came to UCC in 2002 and made inconsistent visits throughout the years to follow.
“In 2011-12, the van started coming on a regular basis, and we’ve had a dental van ever since,” Coester said.
But it was not always free. Not until Coester’s Spring Leadership class arranged for ASUCC to fund the van for students.
The cost of the dental van’s visit was around $4,000 in Fall 2012. The van saw 12 students, and an average of approximately $300 worth of in dental services per student was done for free.
“I am very grateful to the leadership class who explored the options of bring the dental van to UCC. They presented the idea and, ASUCC made it a possibility. It has truly become a legacy,” Coester said.
Questions about the application or van’s services may be directed to Student Ambassador Joel Wylam at 541-440-7873, located at the Information Desk.