title: Creating a successful school-based mobile dental program.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dental disease is one of the leading causes of school absenteeism for children. This article describes the creation and evolution of the St. David's Dental Program, a mobile school-based dental program for children.
  
  
  METHODS
  The dental program is a collaboration of community partners in Central Texas that provides free dental care to low-income children in schools without relying on reimbursements or government funding.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Since 1998, the program has provided 132,791 screenings for oral health treatment needs and 38,634 encounters for sealants or treatment. In 2005, the program provided $2.1 million worth of services at a cost of $1.2 million (not including donated services). Factors important to the program's success included sustained funding for general operating costs; well-compensated clinicians to deliver care and experienced human service workers to manage program operations; the devotion of resources to maximize consent form return rates; and the development of strong relationships with school district and individual school staff.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By removing cost, time, transportation, and bureaucratic barriers, the program was able to reach more children than fixed-site clinics. The program was a merging of private and public health dentistries. This model can be useful to other communities in light of the unmet need for dental care and tighter federal, state, and local government budgets.
authors.affiliation: Healthcare Strategies, 6208 Lost Horizon Drive, Austin, TX 78759, USA. davej@austin.rr.com
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Lauren R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Jahnke
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kerber
authors.forename: Genie
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nyer
authors.forename: Kammi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Siemens
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D040361:Healthy People Programs / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008952:Mobile Health Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011203:Poverty; D012571:School Dentistry / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology