Pacific University Students Focus on the Underserved

By Billy Merck, Pacific University Online

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Give Kids a Smile

Give Kids a Smile was held at Pacific University's Dental Health Clinic on Saturday February 7th.

Volunteer dentists and dental hygiene students provided over $50,000 worth of free dental care to 78 children from Head Start and nearby Kinnaman Elementary School.  The children received services such as dental cleanings, dental exams, fillings and extractions. The Give Kids a Smile event evolved from Pacific students brainstorming ways to utilize the dental hygiene clinic to serve the underserved in Washington County. 

"As dental hygiene students, we were really seeing the need for access to dental care and affordable dental services in Washington County," said Alison Daniel, a senior dental hygiene assistant. "There are so many people who need care, especially children, and can't afford it or don't know how to access it."

Senior dental hygiene students Breanna Caufield, Alison Daniel and Jessica Scruggs planned and coordinated the Give Kids a Smile event as part of their senior capstone project. They attribute the success of the event to the entire dental hygiene program--students, faculty and staff--and the vast amount of volunteer dentists and dental hygienists from the community who were willing to give up their Saturday to help.

During the planning and coordination of the event, the students teamed up with Washington County Dental Society and Washington County Dental Hygiene Society to find volunteer dentists and dental hygienists for the event.  Donations were received from dental supply companies as well as a donation from Washington County Dental Society and the BPD Dental Hygiene Study Club.

Project Homeless Connect

Pacific's Dental Health Sciences students participated in Washington County's 3rd Annual Project Homeless Connect. The January 28th event took place in Hillsboro and was presented by Vision Action Network of Washington County, Sonrise Church and Good Neighbor Center and sponsored by Tuality Healthcare and Providence Health and Services.