published: Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Dental Hygiene students provide services

Special to the News-Sun

SEBRING - Students in the Dental Hygienist program at South Florida Community College recently provided dental health education and services for female inmates in the Highlands County Jail who are enrolled in the Jail Alternative to Substance Abuse (JASA) program.

Dr. Deborah Milliken, director of the Dental Hygienist program at SFSC, and Sueellen Williams, Community Dental instructor, collaborated with Highlands County Sheriff's Major David Paeplow and the medical staff at the detention facility to provide dental hygiene education and services to female JASA participants. This is the first year of this partnership and it serves to give the Dental Hygiene students exposure out of the traditional private dental practice and into the public health sector to address community needs. Students came once every two weeks over a six-week period and presented educational materials on dental health and how it relates to overall physical health and well-being. In addition, the dental hygiene students taught JASA participants how to remove plaque buildup by proper and frequent brushing.

Students Megan LaBelle, Candy Velez and Randie Williams, along with intern Lyndsey Edgemon, shared excitement about the program and were very pleased with the results. Velez said, "One of the participants had 100 percent plaque at the start of the program and today she tested at zero. That was fabulous, and we hardly ever see this in private practice."

LaBelle related, "We helped them understand that whole body health begins with oral health and they were very responsive to our suggestions on how to improve their oral health."

SFSC Dental Hygiene students take Community Dental in their second year of the program, in the spring. They hope to continue this partnership with the Highlands County Sheriff's Office for years to come.

In addition to interacting with JASA participants, the students provided packets containing dental floss, a toothbrush and toothpaste to be included in the personal belongings of the inmates which they will receive upon their release from detention. This will give them the materials to continue their newly attained oral health habits once they are released from jail.