ATSU-MOSDOH provides free dental care during biannual Give Kids A Smile event in St. Louis

ATSU-MOSDOH provides free dental care during biannual Give Kids A Smile event in St. Louis

A.T. Still University's Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-MOSDOH) participated in the biannual Give Kids a Smile (GKAS) dental clinic in October in St. Louis, providing free dental care to children ages 1 to 14. This marked the third time ATSU-MOSDOH had a robust presence at the event, located at the Center for Advanced Dental Education at St. Louis University.

Working alongside hundreds of volunteers and dental and healthcare professionals, 49 ATSU-MOSDOH dental students experienced firsthand what public health volunteerism can do for dental care access. Over the course of two days, volunteers treated 284 children and provided $163,409 in free dental care.

ATSU-MOSDOH's third- and fourth-year students volunteered under the supervision of Mohamed Rahhal, BDS, PhD, MSc, associate professor, and Gabriela Torres, DMD, assistant professor, providing dental care in the clinic's restorative section. Some students also worked in sterilization, patient education, and the Tiny Smiles program and served as ambassadors, taking children through various sections of the clinic.

In addition, ATSU-MOSDOH's first- through fourth-year bilingual students worked as in-person and on-call interpreters under the direction of Romana Muller, EdD, MSDH, RDH, CEPH, '22, associate professor and GKAS board member. Through ATSU-MOSDOH's partnership with GKAS and the International Institute of St. Louis, the clinic served a record number of children from ethnically and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

As in previous years, the number of Hispanic children attending the clinic was high. However, the clinic also had increased participation from children who spoke Pashto, an eastern Iranian language spoken primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This increase may be linked to the large resettlement of Afghan refugees in St. Louis in recent years.

Dr. Muller attributes increased access to linguistically appropriate free dental care to the growing team of volunteer interpreters.

"Three clinics ago, a group of 10 bilingual ATSU-MOSDOH students, passionate about serving their community, provided language assistance," she says. "We made such a difference that we decided to do it again at the next clinic. By then, many bilingual students from other schools asked to join the team. This year, the interpretation team had over 60 volunteer interpreters from academic and community organizations, as well as community volunteers, collectively speaking 17 different languages. I am extremely grateful to all the volunteers on my team."

Dr. Muller also acknowledges ATSU-MOSDOH's participation in the most recent GKAS event would not have been possible without the support of ATSU-MOSDOH's Shaista Rashid, BDS, MS, MPH, assistant dean of clinical affairs, associate professor, and Donald Altman, DDS, DHSc, EdD, '12, interim dean.

The first GKAS event was held in St. Louis in February 2002 and the program launched nationally in 2003. Since then, under the sponsorship of the American Dental Association, the event has grown immensely and is held in numerous states across the U.S. A.T. Still University's Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health hosts an annual GKAS event on the Mesa, Arizona, campus, and ATSU-MOSDOH students on the Kirksville, Missouri, campus participate annually in local GKAS events.