The Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) recently unveiled a new Ronald McDonald Care Mobile in Northwest Arkansas that it claims will be the area's first mobile dental clinic.
The 40-ft-long mobile clinic will travel to 19 elementary schools in Benton and Washington counties that have the highest number of students receiving free and reduced lunches. Parents of students in these schools will receive information with further details about how their children can receive dental care through the school nurses; eligible children must not currently have a source of dental care. Dentists from Arkansas Children's Hospital will provide preventative and restorative care to 1,000 children every year to eligible students attending.
"We are excited to make dental care more accessible to children," said Lindsey Gibson, executive director of RMHC of Arkoma, in a press release. "Often, parents are unable to take their children to see a dentist because they cannot pay or cannot afford time off from work for an appointment. The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile will provide a means for these children to get the care they need."