Why this bus is driving across Mecklenburg County to check NC student smiles
A new Mecklenburg County dental program aims to brighten the smiles of children without easy access to regular dental care.
The MeckDental mobile unit operates like a portable dentist’s office, bringing dental screenings, treatments and X-ray imaging to local schools and events, said Raydiance Swanston, the pediatric dental unit manager. The goal is to make sure all Mecklenburg County students have easy access to dental care and the opportunity to be healthy, she said.
The examinations take place in a large bus wrapped in a blue and green design with the words “Meck Dental” stamped on the side next to an image of a tooth. Inside, the unit has three chairs for treatments, an X-ray machine and a counter equipped with drawers, sinks and medical equipment.
The new dental unit made its second outing at the Calvary CARES Annual Community Impact event at the Calvary Christian Church of The Apostolic Faith in Charlotte Saturday, where Swanton said they expected to screen around 30 children.
“There’s many people that face the issue of transportation, not having enough leave to leave work, parents just having the flexibility to continuously go for a doctor’s appointment,” Swanston said. “So the fact that we’re taking the care to the community is necessary, and also it helps reduce the possibility of those infections or abscess going untreated.”
The dental unit will visit Charlotte schools and offer complete dental services, Swanston said, including screenings, fillings, extractions and more. The unit also has the ability to host vaccinations and HIV screenings at community events.
Swanston said a child’s oral health can make a big impact on their performance in school.
“People don’t realize your oral health impacts your overall health. So if a child has a headache or a fever, sometimes it’s related to their dental condition,” she said. “We see kids show up with active infections, and if that’s not addressed, those infections can travel and unfortunately cause irreversible damage.”
The county already has two dental screening units it sends out to check for cavities and other oral problems, said county spokesperson Suzette Nedrich, but the new unit is set apart by its ability to offer dental treatments and X-rays after screenings identify an issue. The dental unit has room to conduct three examinations or treatments at once.
“Oral health screenings have been going on for years in Mecklenburg County, because there are plenty of kids who’ve never been to the dentist, but oral health screenings are required as part of going to school,” Nedrich said. “They want to help kids learn, and if kids come with all kinds of oral health issues, it really does impact their learning.”
Pre-K, kindergarten and first graders typically receive dental screenings. Mecklenburg County Health Department data showed a steep decline in the number of screenings completed — from 20,253 in 2022-23 to 3,624 last school year — after the legislature passed a measure called the Parents Bill of Rights, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Quincy Byrd, a 9-year-old who received a dental examination Saturday, said he doesn’t like going to the dentist, but it’s important to him to have a nice smile.
“What makes me smile the most is my father and football,” he said.
The new unit screened 80 children during its first outing, Swanston said, many of whom did not have a required dental screening on file with their schools.
Annabelle Neri, who conducts examinations on the unit, said she learned her daughter had an oral infection after she was screened by a MeckDental unit at her school.
“She wasn’t complaining, but that day they noticed she had an infection” Neri said “If it wasn’t for this unit, we wouldn’t have known.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
