Feature image above: The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile is a 40-foot van that travels to elementary schools in six counties across central Arkansas, providing free comprehensive dental care to students. Photos courtesy of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas & North Louisiana.

 

Imagine a little girl walking up to a teacher at school, clutching her jaw and whispering that her tooth hurts, or a young boy who cannot eat at lunchtime because his mouth is in so much pain. How about a child who lost his toothbrush and now shares one with his aunt? For children across Arkansas without access to dental care, that is the reality.

 

“I always like to tell the story that we heard a few years ago about a little girl who couldn’t stay awake in class because she was just so tired and her mouth hurt,” said Donna Csunyo, chief operating officer at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas & North Louisiana. “They finally got her on the care mobile and looked in, and she just had a mouthful of trouble, but one tooth in particular was abscessed, so they ended up having to pull the tooth.

 

Donna Csunyo

 

“They said by the time they started treating her and got the tooth out, she had fallen asleep. They left her sitting in the chair, sleeping, because she was in such a good sleep.”

 

The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile is a 40-foot van that travels to elementary schools in six counties across central Arkansas, providing free comprehensive dental care to students. A full dental office, complete with an X-ray area and two treatment rooms, it is packed into a camper-like structure, which is equipped to provide everything from fillings to extractions.

 

The global Ronald McDonald House Charities organization began implementing mobile care programs as a way to improve health outcomes and provide continuity of care to children around the world, Csunyo said.

 

Each program looked a little different, she added. The local organization identified dental care as the area’s greatest need when it started the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile in 2009.

 

“I believe it’s one of the most important programs we have,” she said.

 

Arkansas ranks 50th in the nation for overall health, and access to care plays a major role in that statistic, said Dr. Angela Frantz, dental outreach dentist at the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile. Arkansas Children’s is the clinical provider for the program.

 

Dr. Angela Frantz

 

Arkansas has only 42 dentists per 100,000 people, one of the lowest ratios in the country, she said, and more than half the state’s counties are designated as dental health professional shortage areas, meaning there are more than 5,000 people per dentist.

 

A 2019 survey found two counties in Arkansas had no active dentists, she added, and with about 45 percent of Arkansans lacking dental insurance coverage in a 2019 census, cost creates an additional barrier.

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, children from low-income families are twice as likely to experience tooth decay in their primary teeth compared to children from higher-income households, she said.

 

“There is a common myth that baby teeth are not important because they eventually fall out,” she added. “In reality, they play critical roles in eating, speaking and maintaining space for future adult teeth. Unfortunately, tooth decay is the most common chronic disease in childhood — five times more common than asthma. Over 40 percent of children entering kindergarten have tooth decay.”

 

Without treatment, cavities can progress quickly in baby teeth, causing severe pain and infection, she added. Poor oral health can also impact a child’s academic performance, she said, noting that studies estimate 34 million school hours are missed annually due to acute dental needs.

 

She added that research has also shown oral health problems can lead to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory disease and dementia. The good news, she said, is that cavities are treatable and preventable.

 

Dr. Angela Frantz, left, speaks with dental hygienist Dominique Parker aboard the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile.

 

“With proper access to dental care and consistent oral hygiene, the risk of decay drops dramatically,” Frantz said. “Preventative treatments like dental sealants can reduce future cavity formation by up to 80 percent. Prioritizing early oral health care not only protects a child’s smile — it can lay the foundation for a lifetime of better health.”

 

Delta Dental Foundation of Arkansas helps support the care mobile program and recently awarded Ronald McDonald House a $40,000 grant toward operating costs.

 

“This is what access looks like in action — seeing the need and then meeting the need — and we’re proud to be a part of a partnership that is truly helping change lives because a healthy smile impacts your overall life,” said Sharon Lanier, executive director. “We’re proud to help support that one smile at a time.”

 

Sharon Lanier

 

Supporting nonprofit and community-based organizations that improve access to dental care, the foundation is dedicated to meeting people where they are, she added, from providing prenatal dental education to expectant mothers to improving education and access for older adults.

 

“What we want organizations to know is if you have a population that you serve, they all have a mouth,” she said. “Whether you’re an after-school program, whether you are a work-readiness program, whether you’re a food pantry, all the people accessing services, they have a mouth, and they need to get regular oral health care.”

 

Lanier said the Ronald McDonald House Care Mobile is powerful because it eliminates nearly all barriers to care, from transportation, time and cost to a fear of going to the dentist that might develop during childhood.

 

“By bringing this comprehensive dental care directly to neighborhoods, directly to schools, it’s one way that we can help ensure that people don’t have to worry about transportation getting to the dentist or even the cost of the exam,” she said. “It also helps to create a spirit of getting over fear of going to the dentist because we know that a lot of people will say they have a fear of the dentist, and it started in childhood.”

 

Frantz said the care mobile team works to make children comfortable with visiting the dentist from the moment they step foot in the van.

 

“We talk with them about their day and what they’ve been learning, and over time, we really get to know them,” she said. “At subsequent appointments, it makes their day when we remember their favorite color or ask whether they enjoyed the field trip they told us about previously.”

 

During their first appointment, children receive a dental exam, cleaning and any needed X-rays, she said. After the appointment, each child gets to pick a prize and select an oral health kit with a toothbrush in his or her favorite color, along with floss, child-friendly toothpaste and a sand timer to help children brush for the recommended two minutes at home. Then, during follow-up visits, care mobile dentists complete any necessary treatment, such as fillings, crowns and extractions.

 

 

Dentists explain in clear, age-appropriate language what they will do at the beginning of each appointment and demonstrate how dental tools work so that nothing feels scary or unfamiliar, she said. The team also works to empower children as much as possible by letting them choose a toothpaste flavor or what to watch on TV during the appointment.

 

“Our goal is that the children we see will look forward to the next time they see the dentist,” she said. “By creating positive experiences early on, we hope to prevent dental anxiety and set them up for a lifetime of good oral health.”

 

Csunyo said the Ronald McDonald House Care Mobile is working to expand its programs and recently began visiting the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Southwest Little Rock Clinic during the summer to provide additional care to children.

 

“We would love to increase the number of schools we visit and students we can see,” Frantz added. “Our goal is to make a lasting impact on the oral health of Arkansans. If we can provide children with a good foundation of oral health and good oral hygiene habits, I truly believe we will see Arkansas’ national ranking of oral health skyrocket.”

 

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