The School District of Palm Beach County, Florida
Other School and Department Based Activities
Preventive Dental Services
The Dental Sealant Project, funded by the Marjorie S. Fisher Fund, has provided dental screenings for over 33,000 children and placed over 87,200 sealants on second grade students since 1997. Despite changes in funding and staff support, dental staff from the Florida Department of Health Palm Beach County continue committed to provide this program in 31 Title 1 schools (see list below). This program utilizes a state of the art two dental chair mobile clinic on wheels called the “Tooth Fairy.” The team collaborates with school nurses to refer sealant program participating children needing urgent dental care.
- During the 2017-2018 school year, 1,857 students were screened by the dental team and 4,451 sealants were placed. Data continued to show that a high percentage of students needed dental care and 6% of those screened ha severe needs. This untreated dental decay continues above the national averages.
The Florida Department of Health Palm Beach County - Dental Division’s “Coordinated Oral Health Access Referral Program” (COHARP) is a case management and referral program to help school children with acute dental needs. These children are referred from either the Dental Sealant Program, RAMS Health Clinic at Palm Beach Lakes HS, or from the school nurses in Palm Beach County schools. Children identified with immediate dental needs will have the ability to be seen for urgent care in one of the FDOH community partner clinics or contracted providers.