At a recent dental clinic day, Sinclair Dental faculty Brittany Fieguth reassured 9-year-old Afrika Mendoza while getting her teeth cleaned and checked. Meanwhile, second year hygiene student Lauren Askey worked to smooth out one of Mendoza’s back teeth that’s been bothering her.
Recently, Sinclair Community College’s Dental Clinic and second year dental hygiene students provided care of about 45 refugee youth during a free event. The children, ages 1-18, hailed from several African nations and from Columbia.
The Montgomery County Educational Services Center secured a federal grant to cover the dental expenses for the children. Diane Farrell, who coordinates the Refugee Impact Project, said this is a valuable resource for displaced youth and families.
"Get them into a caring environment that gets them a positive experience for their first dental exam and hopefully set them on a path that they’ll continue these services throughout their adolescent years and into their adult life," she said.
Dr. Bonita Kipling chairs the school’s Dental Health Sciences Program. She believes this experience is teaching her hygiene students valuable lessons.
"A lot of individuals don’t get the opportunity to visit or to meet people of the underserved population so this is a great opportunity for them and we hope this will instill in them the feeling to go out and help once they are working in dental office," noted Kipling.
Other community partners include Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley and Ebenezer Healthcare Access.
