ANN ARBOR—Dental students from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry will be providing dental care to migrant workers and their families in the Traverse City area from June 19-July 28.

A range of dental services focusing on prevention, cleaning, tooth extractions, and fillings will be offered. The services will be provided at three locations:

• Traverse City—Northwest Michigan Health Services, Inc., 10767 Traverse Highway.
• Elk Rapids Middle School.
• Kaleva Community Elementary School.

Robert Bagramian, professor of dentistry and director of the Migrant Worker Program, said, “This program continues to demonstrate the University’s and the School of Dentistry’s commitment to the State of Michigan.”

Last year, nearly 400 patients, both children and parents, were treated, an increase of nearly one-third. Patient visits rose nearly 8.5 percent to more than 1,000. During those visits, dental students placed 218 sealants, filled more than 530 tooth surfaces, and extracted nearly 100 teeth.

Portable equipment—including X-ray machines, dental chairs, drills, air, and water—will be set up in the elementary school in Kaleva and the middle schools in Elk Rapids. Children of the migrant workers will receive dental care during the day at the schools. Adult migrant workers will receive oral health care in the evening at the Northwest Michigan Health Services (NMHS) clinic in Traverse City.

The U-M School of Dentistry and NMHS have been partners in the program for 22 years. Program funding comes primarily from the NMHS Migrant Health Program as well as the Michigan Primary Care Association.

The volunteer program continues to be very popular with students. “This year, as in previous years, we received more applications than we had openings. This year, we had 60 applications for 24 open positions,” Bagramian said. The senior dental students who are chosen are in the upper level of their class academically and clinically and have demonstrated a commitment to serving.

The students will work for two-week rotations in groups of eight. The student volunteers will staff the clinics and will be supervised by a member of the faculty. This year’s supervisors are Dr. Ben Lee and Dr. Marcella Jimenez. Lee, who received his D.D.S. from the School of Dentistry in
The U-M School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction train future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. More information is available on the Web at http://www.dent.umich.edu.

orJanet Mendler

School of DentistryMigrant Worker Programhttp://www.dent.umich.edu