A recent grant has funded the purchase of a van and mobile equipment so public health officials across northern Michigan can go into schools and offer dental screenings and then connect families with oral health care providers.
Elisa Dack is the community health coordinator and oral health coordinator for District Health Department No. 2, which serves Alcona, Iosco, Ogemaw and Oscoda counties.
"I mean we're doing tissue checks and we're making sure the alignment is correct and all sorts of things," Dack told WCMU. "You're literally setting up a dental clinic inside a room. I mean everything has to be sterile so there's a ton of things that go into place with that."
Dack said there is an overall shortage of dental health providers in northern Michigan.
"In the eight counties that I serve there's not one pediatric specialist so if kiddos need to go a specialist for any reason, I mean, they're traveling," she said.
Dack said she's hoping the losses after the Covid-19 pandemic will be getting better.
"But I would hope to see that we would get more professionals moving up to our area and serving our communities because it's greatly needed,” she said.
In addition, Dack said, work has begun on another grant to offer dental sealants as another preventive measure.
The mobile clinic will also serve Alpena, Cheboygan, Montmorency and Presque Isle counties.
