Starkville Mobile Dentist Clinic

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)—Creating a healthy smile is the goal for the Starkville Oktibbeha County School District.

Tuesday Morning, Sudduth Elementary School partnered with the Smiles-To-Go program to offer students a chance to visit a mobile dental clinic at school.

Good dental health is about more than just clean teeth and fresh breath. According to Smiles-To-Go Owner, Ashley Casey, how well you take care of your oral health speaks volumes about the care you take of the rest of your body.

” You can look inside a person’s mouth and you can tell their over all health ,what it looks like you know whether they smoke drink have diabetes all those different things everything enters your body through your mouth. It’s so true you can look at some of the children and if they have 10 and 15 cavities then that’s painting a picture of what their over all health looks like,”said Casey.

Susan Williams is the school nurse and she says she’s seen her fair share of loose teeth. Williams say just because kids can lose them doesn’t mean they shouldn’t practice good dental habits.

” These are babies. These are kindergarten 5 and 6 and 7 years old. These children are losing their primary teeth and they are getting their permanent teeth so that’s why dental health is so important and it’s always good to promote brushing in the morning and at night,”said Williams.

The kindergartner got the full works with their visits including exams, x-rays,fluoride treatments and cleanings. Williams says the Smiles-to-go program is not only benefiting the children, but the parents too.

“Some of our children families don’t have vehicles or have a way to get them to the dentist so by bringing the dentist to them at school. Their child can get their teeth cleaned and an assessment and learn how to use a tooth brush,”said Williams.

Casey believes the oral problems could even lead poor performance in class.

” Everyday a bunch of the students will be sitting in classes with abscess and it’s difficult to concentrate when your throbbing and it’s beating so we feel like if you start them off at an early age and they get to interact and see that it’s not all about shots and needles then it’s going to be a lot better in the future,”said Casey.

Tuesday, The Smiles To Go Program was able to serve 198 students.