In an effort to make sure its students have access to dental treatment, the Floyd County School District has partnered with a regional health-care center that will provide dental services at its schools via a mobile dental unit, Mary Meadows reports for the Floyd County Chronicle.
The school board approved the contract with Big Sandy Health Care at its June 26 meeting. Meadows reports that the contract will not cost the district any funds and that Big Sandy Health Care will bill Medicaid or private insurance “where applicable.”
Supt. Henry Webb, who resigned June 30, told the board members that the district had partnered with Big Sandy Health Care for dental services for years, noting that the center had evaluated about 2,000 students each year for dental issues. But he added, "The issue’s always been when they find cavities and things like that, they recommend follow-up, but unfortunately, lots of times that never happens."
The new contract allows dentists in the health center's mobile dental unit to not only evaluate the students, but to also provide treatments, such as fillings and extractions, with consent of parents or guardians.
“I just think it’s a huge step forward,” Webb said. “Unfortunately, we have a lot of dental issues with kids, and I think this will really make a significant difference for the health and well-being of our kids.” (This story is behind a paywall.)
A Delta Dental of Kentucky and Kentucky Youth Advocates study, released in October, found that the oral health of Kentucky's school children is getting worse, even though access to oral health care is better now than it was 15 years ago.
The analysis of third and sixth graders found that two out of five children in the study had untreated cavities and that this problem was "significantly greater" in Appalachian Kentucky, where more than half of the children in the study had untreated cavities.
The school board approved the contract with Big Sandy Health Care at its June 26 meeting. Meadows reports that the contract will not cost the district any funds and that Big Sandy Health Care will bill Medicaid or private insurance “where applicable.”
Supt. Henry Webb, who resigned June 30, told the board members that the district had partnered with Big Sandy Health Care for dental services for years, noting that the center had evaluated about 2,000 students each year for dental issues. But he added, "The issue’s always been when they find cavities and things like that, they recommend follow-up, but unfortunately, lots of times that never happens."
“I just think it’s a huge step forward,” Webb said. “Unfortunately, we have a lot of dental issues with kids, and I think this will really make a significant difference for the health and well-being of our kids.” (This story is behind a paywall.)
A Delta Dental of Kentucky and Kentucky Youth Advocates study, released in October, found that the oral health of Kentucky's school children is getting worse, even though access to oral health care is better now than it was 15 years ago.
The analysis of third and sixth graders found that two out of five children in the study had untreated cavities and that this problem was "significantly greater" in Appalachian Kentucky, where more than half of the children in the study had untreated cavities.
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