Dental Clinic is a Win-Win for Students, Community

Before 24-year-old Samantha Adams even begins her career as a dental hygienist, she will have already worked alongside an experienced dentist, established caseloads and provided dental care to more than 50 Kalamazoo area residents.

The 2011 Grandville High School graduate is in her third semester of Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s two-year dental hygiene program and will spend more than 500 hours in the college’s Texas Township Dental Clinic providing patients with a variety of services for good oral health before she graduates in May of 2018.

The dental hygiene program prepares students, like Adams, to become qualified dental hygiene practitioners. Students must complete one year of prerequisite courses prior to applying to the dental hygiene program. Twenty-four students are admitted each fall based on overall GPA (from Kalamazoo Valley Community College if available and from all applicable transfer institutions).

Graduates of this program are granted an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree and are eligible to take the National Board Exam in Dental Hygiene and the Regional or State Licensing Exams. Students receive 20 weeks of classroom instruction and work on mannequins as well as one another prior to meeting with patients. To give students the practical, hand-son experience they need to become licensed dental hygienists, the clinic is open to the public. Students provide discounted dental hygiene care under the supervision of their instructors who are licensed dentists and dental hygienists.

“Our students do the same work that would be done in private practice under the realm of dental hygiene,” said Dental Hygiene Program Director Kimberly Grubka. “We can clean teeth, take x-rays, and place protective sealants on molars.”

Additionally, Grubka said, the clinic offers Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (MFT), or tongue thrust therapy. MFT training within a dental hygiene program is unique to the state of Michigan. “The students learn how to assess a person’s tongue position and the affects the tongue has on eating, occlusion and speech and then recommendations are made,” she explained. “Recommendations may be limited to exercises or may include a medical referral for nose and throat treatment, or a dental referral for limited oral surgery prior to exercise therapy.” Students do not fill cavities, do extractions, make or adjust dentures, or other procedures done strictly by a dentist but are able to make recommendations to area dental offices, if necessary.

The 8,000 square-foot-clinic is equipped with $2 million worth of computer-driven dental equipment. The large open space features 14 operatory chairs and four x-ray operatories as well as a conference room and classroom. Each station is equipped with a video camera and microphone so students can review their work with instructors. A large waiting room and receptionist welcome patients to the clinic. “I looked at other schools but after touring Valley’s campus and the Dental Clinic, I knew that this was the right program for me,” Adams said. “The space is perfect for learning – everything is right there.”

Because it is a teaching clinic and students are learning to perform thorough assessments and services, time spent in the clinic is longer than a typical visit to the dentist. “Patients get quality care that is less expensive but are paying with their time,” Grubka said. The initial appointment is a free 30-minute screening where a patient’s medical history is evaluated and a quick assessment is completed of the oral cavity. Following the screening, an appointment for cleaning is scheduled. Appointments are three hours in length, allowing time for the students to collect the data necessary to make a complete dental hygiene diagnosis with a treatment plan that fills the client’s dental hygiene needs. Faculty members evaluate students during the appointment to assess students’ progress. Depending on the patient’s dental hygiene needs, additional appointments may be required. “It’s a definite time commitment but one that is critical to student learning,” Grubka said. “Students get the best, hands-on training working on people from the community.”

The time commitment doesn’t seem to be a deterrent. Community members scheduled more than 550 appointments during the Fall 2016 semester. “We have people who have been coming to us for years,” said Grubka, who has been with the college for 25 years. “People prefer our care because it is so very thorough.”

While the clinic has an established patient list, they are always looking for new patients, Grubka said, especially those in need of tongue thrust therapy.

Clinic hours are as follows:
FALL SEMESTER (Sept. 5 – Dec. 18)
Tues/Wed/Thurs 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
WINTER SEMESTER (Jan. 8 – April 30)
Tues/Thurs 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Wed 12:30 – 4:30 p.m.
SUMMER SEMESTER (May 7 – Aug. 20)
Wed/Thurs 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
To make an appointment, call 269.488.4338.

Students interested in a career in dental hygiene should contact Grubka at 269.488.4719 or kgrubka@kvcc.edu or visit www.kvcc.edu/dental.

DENTAL CLINIC PRICING
ADULTS:
Cleaning includes: Oral Exam, Patient Education, Cleaning, Polish, and Fluoride

Cleaning Cost $46.00 - $64.00*

Full-mouth X-rays $15.00
Bitewings $8.00
CHILDREN:
Cleaning includes: Oral Exam, Patient Education, Cleaning, Polish, and Fluoride

Age 13 or younger $26.00
Full-mouth X-rays $15.00
Bitewings $8.00
ORAL EXAM:
Required with all services $10.00
ADDITIONAL SERVICES:
Pit & Fissure Sealant $5.00/tooth
Athletic Mouthguard $5.00
MFT Initial Evaluation $25.00
Exercise Book $25.00
MFT Therapy Lessons $10.00
*Price is determined by difficulty of cleaning

DENTAL SERVICES NOW FREE TO AREA VETERANS

The Dental Clinic at Kalamazoo Valley recently began offering free dental services to veterans in the community.

“We respect what these men and women have done for our country,” said Dental Hygiene Program Director Kimberly Grubka. “It’s only fitting that we show our support.”

Veterans and service members must show military ID or proof of military service to receive the free services.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 269.488.4338.