Four dentists and a clinical assistant professor and pedodontist from the University of Iowa were on the Big Island, May 14-18, providing free dental care in Waimea to children up to grade five.

St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii Iowa dental resident Bryce Goebel poses for a photo with 8-year-old Nathanial Davis whose mother drove two and a half hours from Kau to Waimea for her son to receive dental care.

About a 100 uninsured or government-insured kids had their teeth x-rayed and treated with fluoride, their cavities filled, and their bad teeth pulled.

The project, called “Healthy Children – Healthy Smiles,” was the idea of University of Iowa pediatrician and former Kamuela resident Dr. Elaine Himadi. It was sponsored by the University of Iowa, the Catholic Church’s Mobile Care Health Project, the Hamakua Health Center and participating schools.

Assisting Dr. Himadi was University of Iowa professor and pedodontist Dr. Richard Burke.

The Mobile Care Health Project for 10 years has provided dental care to the rural poor in a Winnebago-style van fully equipped with state of the art dental stations. It is a project of the diocesan Office for Social Ministry and St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii. A second van was added in 1999. The program is a dental safety net for the underserved, providing acute dental care, oral health assessments, education, referrals and advocacy.

The Healthy Smiles project provided service for three days at Waimea Elementary School and two days at Annunciation Parish in Waimea.

The participating Big Island schools were Kanu o ka ‘Aina New Century Charter School, Kula Kaiapuni o Waimea, Malama Poki‘i, Punana Leo o Waimea, Waimea Elementary School, and Kamehameha Preschool.

The Mobile Care Health Project, between July 2005 and June 2006, provided 1,575 appointments. One third of the patients had no insurance; two thirds had Medicaid. During that time, Mobile Care performed 4,465 dental procedures.

It is estimated that the “Healthy Children – Healthy Smiles” donated about $25,000 worth of services.