When ForsythKids visited an elementary school in the Cape Cod area, we met nine-year-old Mattie,* who suffered excruciating pain from a mouth full of cavities. The pain was so bad, she couldn’t concentrate on homework, and it woke her up at night.
Our lead hygienist Carley Zamorano’s warm smile and gentle exam of her teeth made Mattie comfortable enough to express how pain disrupted her life.
Carley cleaned her teeth, gave her toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, and spoke with her parents with a dentist referral. A few days later, Mattie was able to go to a community dentist to get restorative care and now her pain is gone.
A Public Health Crisis
“Most of the time, these kids have never been seen by a dentist,” Zamorano said of her work in the ForsythKids mobile dental clinic, which visited over 60 school sites in the 2023-24 school year. “It feels good to be in this position because if we weren’t there treating them, they could spend most of their childhood with painful toothaches. It can keep them from chewing well and cause absences from school.”
Lack of access to dental care is an important issue in Massachusetts, with more than 300,000 kids in the state going without dental care.
Tooth decay, the most common childhood disease in the U.S., is part of why kids lose more than 51 million school hours each year due to dental-related illness. These diseases can lead to pain, difficulty paying attention in the classroom, problems with eating and speaking, low self-esteem, and long-term health consequences.
ForsythKids provides care and education
The program emphasizes education on oral care and provides supplies and on-site preventive care.
“Many parents believe it’s okay for baby teeth to get cavities since children lose those teeth.” Zamorano explained. “So we spend time helping children establish healthy habits that will improve their overall health outcomes for the rest of their lives.”
ForsythKids makes a difference by setting in place strong dental hygiene habits and providing care that prevents painful, disruptive conditions in the mouth.
Your gift will allow ForsythKids to expand operations to more sites, to accommodate more staff at school visits, and to help more kids access preventive dental care. Donate now to support our work providing important care to children who need it most.
*Name changed for privacy.
