Mobile dental unit to be unveiled

CARSON CITY -- A new dental program in Clark County featuring a mobile unit that will serve poor neighborhoods is being unveiled today.

Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, told the Board of Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada Thursday that the mobile unit will be part of a new dental residency program to be based at University Medical Center.

"This will give access to those who don't now have access," said Rawson, who heads the dental program at the Community College of Southern Nevada.

The regents gave unanimous approval to go forward with the program, which is being financed by a $400,000 grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation. The money should last three years, Rawson said. One goal is to treat 1,800 children over the next 12 months.

The mobile unit, called "Miles for Smiles," will have two dental chairs and full equipment. The unit will first stop at MASH Village, a shelter for homeless women and children. It will then go to Shade Tree, a center for battered women and their children. It will also visit at-risk schools.

Dr. David Ord will be the dentist in charge of the motor home, which was set to be unveiled at the North Las Vegas campus of the community college today at noon.

Rawson said private dentists "don't want us to flood the market" with competition and the program will be careful. But he added there is no way this residency program will meet all the needs of the poor.

Chancellor Richard Jarvis said Nevada was among the tops in the nation for children in need of dental care. He said 120,000 low-income children do not currently have adequate care.

The dental residency program, officially starting July 1 and which will also treat people at UMC, will be expanded to Northern Nevada in January. Rawson said a director for the residency program in Southern Nevada should be selected in the next 30 days.

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