Dental care may help students not miss class
Getting dental care can be a hassle, but for Armani Manzanares, a student at Denver’s Florence Crittenton High School, it’s relatively pain-free: She can pick up her son Nathan from nursery school, walk less than a football field away and knock out both their appointments at once.
Manzanares, 17, said she appreciates being able to get care for herself and her son, 1, without having to worry about transportation.
“It’s on campus. I can do it myself, so I feel like it’s making me more independent,” she said.
Florence Crittenton, an alternative high school serving pregnant and parenting teens, recently added dental services to its health clinic, which already offered pediatric and gynecological care to students and their children. It’s the fourth building in Denver Public Schools to add dental care for routine needs over the last four years, said Kathrine Hale, the district’s nursing manager.
Clinics in partnership with Denver Health are available in 17 of DPS’s more than 200 schools, though most only offer primary care. The district hasn’t studied whether school-based health services reduce absenteeism or improve grades, but it is clear that students who are dealing with tooth pain or another health problem are going to have a harder time focusing on their lessons, Hale said. Ideally, all students would have access to a range of health services, but schools have space and financial constraints, she said.
“It’s a benefit on many levels” to offer health care, she said. “We would love to see it expand.”
Suzanne Banning, president and CEO of Florence Crittenton Services, said wraparound services at the high school contribute to a graduation rate about twice the national average for teen mothers, with about 75% of students getting a diploma by age 21. The students do tend to take longer than four years to graduate high school, but in some cases that’s by design, so they can continue to take advantage of concurrent enrollment and free child care, she said.
DPS provides teachers for the school, and the nonprofit provides services like parenting classes, art therapy and a store where students can spend “baby bucks” they earned in school on diapers, used clothing and toys, Banning said. Some take multiple RTD buses to get to school every day, so it’s important to remove barriers to both health care and education, she said.
“These girls are very determined,” she said. “They are looking for a better future, like any parent.”
The health center has helped improve attendance at Florence Crittenton while reducing the odds that young moms will put off necessary care, Banning said.
“Prior to the health center being on site, our moms might put off going to get something taken care of because of the challenge of getting to a clinic. If they did go to the doctor or dentist, often urgent care, they would end up missing school that day,” she said.
Terrill Graden, a dental hygienist at the Florence Crittenton clinic, said they can offer routine care like dental exams, cleanings and X-rays. A dentist comes once a week and will start offering more involved work like fillings and extractions in January, he said.
Carmen Rivera, a pediatric patient navigator at the clinic, said they try to schedule the mother and child for the same time, if possible. She works with the mothers to help them set up with a regular medical and dental provider when they graduate, and to coordinate any care that can’t be done in the clinic, like removing wisdom teeth. Most mothers have health insurance through Medicaid or Child Health Plan Plus, but there’s no charge for uninsured moms and kids, she said. The Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation contributed $300,000 over three years to start the clinic.
Some of the students had