By Tere Dunlap
tdunlap@themonroetimes.com
MONROE - The Fowler Memorial Free Dental Clinic, at the Pleasant View Complex, could triple its capacity to treat low-income children for dental problems, if a congressional request for $190,000 is approved.
The $190,000 to expand and upgrade the facility would be used to remodel unused space in the county's health department, creating a bay area for three additional dental chairs and a digital X-ray machine, as well as a reception and waiting area. The request is headed for consideration in the 2011 federal budget
The goal of the expansion project is to prevent oral health problems by providing the facilities for routine preventative dental care for patients of all ages.
Because of its current limited space, the Fowler Memorial Free Clinic now provides dental care only to children ages 3 to 12.
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee in July approved the clinic's request as part of its appropriations bill, which must now pass through the House of Representative and the U.S. Senate as part of the budget process.
RoAnn Warden, director of Green County Health Department, is hopeful the request will make it through to the final budget approval.
"If it makes it though the House, the Senate usually goes along with them," she said.
Warden submitted the clinic's request to Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, in February. Baldwin presented the request to the Labor, Health and Education Appropriations Subcommittee in March.
Baldwin met with members of the clinic board on Thursday and toured the facility at Pleasant View. Baldwin also toured the Green Cares food pantry in Monticello Thursday.
Warden said the location of the dental clinic near other county health services, such as immunizations, reproductive health, the food and nutrition service program and economic support, provides families with a wide range of health care in one location. Reproductive health services would share the remodeled space when the dental clinic was not open. The clinic operates eight to 10 hours per week, with one donated dental chair and volunteer dentists, hygienists, dental assistants, translators and non-clinical staff.
Warden said the need for dental care in Green County is documented by the number of children on Medicaid, and by schools.
Warden provided statistics from an oral assessment on 349 Green County third-graders in January. Ten percent of the children had tooth decay. Seven of the children needed urgent dental care and 169 needed sealant.
According to Drew Delforge, a volunteer dentist at the clinic and a member of the clinic board, 15 to 20 percent of children in Green County are on Medicaid.
"For about 20 years, I was the only dentist who had Medicaid services," he said.
By 2009, of the 16 dentists in Green County, six had Medicaid certification, according to data from the Green County Health Department.
Vicki Evenson, former county health department director and now a member of the clinic board, said Green County's rural population is a major factor in the county's need for low-cost dental care and better dental access.
"In rural and small farming populations, people don't carry dental insurance," she said. "That's the reason dental comes to the top of the list (of county needs) every year."
The free clinic has performed 1,246 treatments on 516 patients since it opened in April 2009. It served more than 250 children in the first 10 months of operation.
"It's a start, that's exactly what it is," Delforge said. "For years, we heard about (the need for) dental health care and dental access. So I said, let's just start something."
tdunlap@themonroetimes.com
MONROE - The Fowler Memorial Free Dental Clinic, at the Pleasant View Complex, could triple its capacity to treat low-income children for dental problems, if a congressional request for $190,000 is approved.
The $190,000 to expand and upgrade the facility would be used to remodel unused space in the county's health department, creating a bay area for three additional dental chairs and a digital X-ray machine, as well as a reception and waiting area. The request is headed for consideration in the 2011 federal budget
The goal of the expansion project is to prevent oral health problems by providing the facilities for routine preventative dental care for patients of all ages.
Because of its current limited space, the Fowler Memorial Free Clinic now provides dental care only to children ages 3 to 12.
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee in July approved the clinic's request as part of its appropriations bill, which must now pass through the House of Representative and the U.S. Senate as part of the budget process.
RoAnn Warden, director of Green County Health Department, is hopeful the request will make it through to the final budget approval.
"If it makes it though the House, the Senate usually goes along with them," she said.
Warden submitted the clinic's request to Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, in February. Baldwin presented the request to the Labor, Health and Education Appropriations Subcommittee in March.
Baldwin met with members of the clinic board on Thursday and toured the facility at Pleasant View. Baldwin also toured the Green Cares food pantry in Monticello Thursday.
Warden said the location of the dental clinic near other county health services, such as immunizations, reproductive health, the food and nutrition service program and economic support, provides families with a wide range of health care in one location. Reproductive health services would share the remodeled space when the dental clinic was not open. The clinic operates eight to 10 hours per week, with one donated dental chair and volunteer dentists, hygienists, dental assistants, translators and non-clinical staff.
Warden said the need for dental care in Green County is documented by the number of children on Medicaid, and by schools.
Warden provided statistics from an oral assessment on 349 Green County third-graders in January. Ten percent of the children had tooth decay. Seven of the children needed urgent dental care and 169 needed sealant.
According to Drew Delforge, a volunteer dentist at the clinic and a member of the clinic board, 15 to 20 percent of children in Green County are on Medicaid.
"For about 20 years, I was the only dentist who had Medicaid services," he said.
By 2009, of the 16 dentists in Green County, six had Medicaid certification, according to data from the Green County Health Department.
Vicki Evenson, former county health department director and now a member of the clinic board, said Green County's rural population is a major factor in the county's need for low-cost dental care and better dental access.
"In rural and small farming populations, people don't carry dental insurance," she said. "That's the reason dental comes to the top of the list (of county needs) every year."
The free clinic has performed 1,246 treatments on 516 patients since it opened in April 2009. It served more than 250 children in the first 10 months of operation.
"It's a start, that's exactly what it is," Delforge said. "For years, we heard about (the need for) dental health care and dental access. So I said, let's just start something."