Community Outreach - School of Dentistry
Dental outreach benefits community
Through two clinics, four outreach clinics and a mobile unit, the School of Dentistry offers oral health services and education. Last year, services were provided to 7,572 patients for a total of 98,000 patient visits.
Dental Hygiene students provides preventive care
The School of Dentistry continues its partnership with Henry Ford Health Systems to implement school-based dental SEALANT programs. The program has been successful in providing preventive dental care to children through dental hygiene student rotations through the program sites. Children who need further services are referred to the School of Dentistry clinic
School supports senior survey on dental health
The School of Dentistry collaborated with the Michigan Department of Community Health to participate in the statewide Senior Oral Health Survey to collect data on the oral health status of seniors. The School of Dentistry hosted the training event for the survey screeners, and dental school faculty Dr. Victor Yee conducted the training and supervised the volunteer student screeners. DS 4 students Lauren Jefferson, Sarah Kwang, and Erin Meriweather (Class of 2011) volunteered to conduct the screening in Detroit area.
Mouth guard programs aids student athletes
School of Dentistry students led by the school chapter of the American Student Dental Association conducted screenings and provided free mouth guards to Highland Park High School sport teams and PALS team. American Student Dental Association students and Advance Education Graduate Degree residents made and delivered 73 mouth guards for an elementary school in southwest Detroit.
Students serve at community dental education sites
The School of Dentistry has partnered with several FQHC’s and community clinics in Flint, Kalamazoo and Detroit to established community-based dental education sites as part of the service learning initiative. Senior year dental students have started rotating through their dental clinics beginning in January 2011. These rotations will enhance the dental education of the students, as well as increase access to dental care for the underserved in these communities.
Health fairs provide dental screenings
Dental faculty, staff and students have participated in 45 health fairs. They screened over 1,026 individuals and provided oral health education. Approximately 8,000 oral health kits were distributed at these health fairs.
Students recognized for volunteer service
Dental student David Vazquez (Class of 2011) and Seth Griffin (Class of 2012) have been awarded the Terry T. Tanaka award for 2011 & 2012 in recognition of outstanding exemplary volunteer service. This is the first time that UDM students have received this award.
