Area dentists lend a helping hand
By Jennifer Colton - Argus Observer
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 11:12 AM PDT
| |
| Dr. Ben Peterson, DMD, works on 13-year-old Luis Martinez’s teeth Monday at High Desert Dental in Ontario. This is the second year Peterson and Dr. Rhett Tipton have closed down their Ontario office to provide free dental care to summer school students. |
Ontario - For the second year, the staff at High Desert Dental performed free dental work Monday for students attending summer school in the Ontario School District.
Another area dentist, Dr. Steven Dunker, performs screenings for all the summer school students, focusing on youth who cannot afford insurance and students in the migrant program, Carlos Nunez, homeschool consultant for the Ontario School District migrant program, said Monday.
Nunez spent the day shuffling groups of students into the office — a revolving door of students, appointments and a lot of dental work.
After Dunker visually checks the summer school students, those who need the most work are then deferred to Tipton and Peterson. The school district works to schedule as many students as possible, and the dental office closes to the public.
Monday, 30 students went through the program, Nunez said, although 60 students were referred for additional treatment.
“These are the students who needed it the most,” he said. “Most of them need extractions or more work, so we focus on them before the others. We are going to see if we can schedule another day.”
This is the second year for the free work at High Desert Dental, and three years ago, Tipton was involved with the Northwest Dental Team, Portland, who operated the charity care directly out of a van.
“The school district really does appreciate what Dr. Peterson and Dr. Tipton have been doing for these kids,” Nunez said. “All of this is done for free.”
Alma wrote on Aug 28, 2009 8:22 PM:
Im so very proud of you, you did AMAZING!! Yet still very young and have years to improve, which seems scary. I know grandpa was cheering for you, chanting #1, #1... Keep up the great work kido. "