Providing children's dental services at school

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The Kern County Children’s Dental Health Network (KCCDHN) began providing dental services for Kern County children in December, 2000. The program was developed as a partnership between the Kern County Superintendent of Schools and West Kern Community College District (Taft College Dental Hygiene Program). The program is funded by First 5-Kern (Proposition 10). The primary goal of the mobile school-based dental program is to decrease the amount of decay in children, 1-5 years of age by improving access to dental services.

The dental services are provided by a cadre of KCCDHN staff including Stacy Eastman, DDS, 5 local pediatric dentists, Daniel Launspach, DDS; Daniel Purdy DMD; Edward Dove, DDS PC; Robert Bang DDS; and Kurt W. Sturz, DMD MS; 4 Dental Hygienists in Alternative Practice; and 25 second-year dental hygiene students from Taft College Dental Hygiene Program.

The dental hygiene students provide the preventive services at a school site, under the direction of Stacy Eastman DDS. Their services include oral health education, an oral screening, a plaque index, a prophylaxis, application of fluoride, and sealants, if age appropriate. Children who are identified as needing further treatment are then given the opportunity to be treated by one of the local subcontracted pediatric dentists, Dr. Launspach DDS, Dr. Purdy DDS, Dr. Dove DDS or Dr. Bang DDS in their respective offices. There are no fees for any of the dental services provided.


arrow: June Newsbite:  Ask A Hygienist

 Ask a Hygienist is a project developed by The Kern County Children’s Dental Health Network for parents to answer questions about dental hygiene care for children ages 0-5 or the role of a dental hygienist. For more information or if you have a question regarding a child age 0 to 5 years of age, please e-mail Susan McCracken, RDHAP.

Here's a recent question we received....

Q. My husband never got his front teeth.  So far, our daughter’s front teeth have not grown in either.  Will she be missing hers, too?


A. Congenitally missing teeth is a genetic condition and can be passed on to your children.  It is important that she have her dentist evaluate her mouth and take an x-ray to see if she is missing the teeth or not.  If she is missing them and nothing is done, it could affect the development of the dental arch.  I highly recommend that she be seen by a pediatric dentist if the teeth do not erupt in a reasonable length of time. Read More...

The KCCDHN program is funded by First 5 Kern and services are provided to children ages 0-5. 

Ask a Hygienist is a Kern County Childrens Dental Health Network informational program designed to provide general information on a variety of dental topics. All material appearing on the Ask a Hygienist page is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended to take the place of your personal dentist or health care provider. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for personal, medical and/or dental attention or diagnosis. Without all available information about a patient it is impossible to make a diagnosis. Should your child have a dental problem, always consult your own dentist for diagnosis and treatment. Kern County Childrens Dental Health Network makes no warranty of any kind with respect to the subject matter and answers given as a response to a question. Only you as a parent, your childs dentist and health care provider can make an appropriate treatment decision.

Submitting a question via this website means that you also agree to the posting of your question/answer on this site. At no time will your e-mail address be revealed, nor your full name.



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