MCH MONADNOCK HEALTHY TEETH

What is Monadnock Healthy Teeth?

Monadnock Healthy Teeth (MHT) is a school-based dental program sponsored by Monadnock Community Hospital that was launched in the Fall of 2003. Our mission is to provide children who have inadequate or no dental care with access to that care.

What Services Does Monadnock Healthy Teeth Provide?

An MHT dental hygienist will visit local elementary schools and provide children in grades K-3 with a variety of proactive dental hygiene services in the nurse’s office and in the classroom. Those include classroom oral health education, oral visual screening, teeth cleaning, one-on-one oral health education, sealant application, and optional weekly fluoride rinses. MHT will also refer children to dentists for restorative dental care.

MHT is the only school based dental program in the state that coordinates and pays for the restorative care that is provided in dental offices. Without this aspect of the program, barriers such as money and initiative often prevent children from getting restorative care. If restorative issues are not addressed, the decay process worsens. The ultimate goal of the program is to get the children to a point where they are pain and disease free, have a dental home and are seeing a dentist for regularly scheduled care.

Children Served

The program serves grades K-3 in the Hospital’s primary service area. This area includes the towns of Antrim, Bennington, Dublin, Francestown, Greenfield, Greenville, Hancock, Jaffrey, Mason, New Ipswich, Peterborough, Rindge, Sharon, and Temple.

From Principal Susan Copley at Peterborough Elementary School:

  • “…we have one boy who arrived here as a First Grader who had only brown spots where many of his teeth should have been.”
  • “One girl had not seen a dentist, and did not go even when the pain of decayed teeth kept her awake at night and made it extremely difficult to concentrate at school.”
  • “Other children have obvious dental problems that could be addressed with regular dental care, and I suspect there are many others we just don’t know about.”

Dental Coverage for Low Income Families

  • Surprisingly, 27.2% of families in the Greater Peterborough Region live at or below the federal poverty level. This is significantly higher than the 21.4% State average.
  • In addition, 27% of the population under age 65 has no dental coverage, which is higher than the 25.7% state average.

Ramifications of Untreated Dental Disease

“Tooth decay and periodontal disease are attributed to long-term bacterial infection, which when left untreated, can contribute to a number of serious systemic diseases, including endocarditis, coronary artery disease, stroke, pre-term births, and developmental delays.” – Endowment for Health Issue brief published 12/27/02

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

  • “Although tooth decay is largely preventable, it remains the most common chronic disease of children aged 5 to 17 years – 5 times more than asthma (59% versus 11%).” – Fact Sheet
  • “Only 1 in 5 low-income children and adolescents receive an annual preventive dental service.” – Press Release, June 27, 2002

Fundraising Plans

Monadnock Community Hospital Support

Monadnock Community Hospital has demonstrated a leadership commitment to the MHT program, already contributing nearly 60% of all necessary funding for the program. According to Peter Gosline, CEO, “We have seen the tremendous need for access to oral health care in our communities, we have seen children suffer with pain and decay, and we are deeply committed to the Monadnock Healthy Teeth program. We have seen the impact that the program has had, and we want to ensure the program will be here for years to come.” As with other community benefit programs offered at no cost, the continuation becomes reliant upon fundraising.

Building an Endowment:

Monadnock Healthy Teeth is actively working to create an endowment fund that would ensure long-term sustainability for the program. The ultimate goal is to raise approximately $2 million for the fund, which will in turn generate between $100,000 and $150,000 of revenue each year for the program.

Individual Donors:

There are a number of individuals in the community who have expressed an interest in supporting Monadnock Healthy Teeth. They recognize the importance of the work that the program does, and want to help further that work. We will be calling on these people individually. We plan to include other program supporters that have connections, hospital leadership, MHT staff, area dentists, and others that would like to engage in the fundraising process.

As we talk with potential donors, there are different ways that gifts may be made to the program. The first would be an outright gift to the program, which would be placed in the specific purpose MHT fund designated to cover program operations. The second way to support the program would be by and endowment gift made through the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation – Monadnock Region. A key aspect of the fundraising process is recognizing the need for operational funding over the next two to three years. Within two to three years, we anticipate a shift to a greater focus on endowment alone.

Monadnock Community Hospital also hosts two fundraising events each year, the Gala Ball and the Golf Tournament. Proceeds of both events go directly to operational support for the MHT program.

Grants & Foundations:

We are actively seeking out and applying for grants when appropriate. The following are some of the organizations from which we have or are in the process of seeking funding: The Endowment for Health, Tom’s of Maine, Northeast Delta Dental, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Garth Brooks Teammates For Kids Foundation, and the Samuel Harris Fund. While we will pursue grant funding, we recognize that 80% of all charitable giving in the Unites States is made by individual donors.

Program Plans

Expansion Planning:

Since the program’s inception in 2003, we have provided education to over 2,000 children in the Monadnock Region. By adding a part-time hygienist in the fall of 2005, we have increased our capacity to serve more children. This school year we will be able to reach every grade school in the ConVal, Jaffrey-Rindge, and Mascenic school districts. We have also brought the MHT program to a number of area preschools and head start programs.

In looking at expansion planning with this type of program, it makes sense for us to look at younger children, rather than expanding the program to older grades. One of the first steps was to begin to include area preschools, which we started last year. We have begun to form alliances with the local pediatricians office, the childbirth educators here at Monadnock Hospital, and have also had conversations with obstetric offices. The earlier that we can reach children and their parents, in terms of education and helping with them with proper oral hygiene, the less decay we will see in the long term.

Program staff:

Sadie Jackson, Community Benefits Manager:

As MHT program administrator, Sadie works closely with Pam and acts as a liaison with the community, presenting program information at local clubs. Sadie also works with the SAU offices to implement the program in area schools, works with local dentists in contracting their services for the program, and handles the grant reporting and application process for the program. Now that the program is more established, Sadie’s focus is shifting to a much greater emphasis on fundraising.

Pamela Delahanty, RDH, Program Coordinator:

As the full-time dedicated employee, Pam handles the daily operations of the program. She is responsible for all aspects of program including, but not limited to: scheduling in the schools, meeting with school nurses, principals and teachers as necessary, developing the educational curriculum and materials, organizing program volunteers, community outreach, maintaining statistical information, maintaining files for all children served, etc… Pam also handles the education, screening, cleaning, sealants, and referrals for children involved in the program.

Michelle Klint, RDH:

As a recent addition to the program, Michelle’s role is to support Pam in the schools by assisting her with the education, screening, cleaning, and sealants. Michelle also works to coordinate all of the necessary paperwork and permission forms for the program.