The University at Buffalo (UB) School of Dental Medicine has received a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant for $500,000 to replace its 14-year-old mobile dental unit, a van that gives children of Chautauqua County, NY, access to oral care.
The grant is intended to support and invest in school-based, health center capital programs such as the UB mobile clinic, one of 278 school-based programs across the U.S. to be awarded funds to help clinics expand and provide more healthcare services to the underserved through the Affordable Care Act.
The school-based mobile dental van is staffed by three UB pediatric dentists, a dental hygienist, and a dental assistant. With the grant, the dental school will purchase a larger, state-of-the-art mobile dental unit equipped with three to four dental chairs to replace its current two-chair van, according to the university.
The new van will be about 45-ft long and will have approximately 600 sq ft of clinical space specific to dentistry, including a sterilization center, a patient waiting/intake/education area, and a panoramic x-ray facility. The dental operatories or procedure areas will be equipped with the computer hardware to access electronic oral health records for improved security, compliance, quality, and efficiency of care.
With the increased capacity, the dental school will possibly add pilot programs in other counties. The dental school will continue to seek operational funding for administrative costs and staffing to operate the dental van.
UB's mobile dental unit has provided care during 38,000 patient visits since 1997.
