Miles of Smiles Dental Unit Updated to Provide More Services

FamilyCare has taken a unique opportunity to expand dental care in the Putnam and Boone counties by unveiling its updated mobile dental unit that will be used at schools in the area. The new health center is open Monday-Friday during school hours for the students, faculty, and staff of the certain schools on a rotating basis.

“By being on the campuses in our service areas, we are eliminating barriers to care for students and staff,” said Fran Coleman, senior VP and COO of FamilyCare. “We want to be able to provide accessible and affordable dental care and that’s what this opportunity is allowing us to do.”

The mobile unit, known as the Miles of Smiles unit, is a school-based program providing basic dental care to children without a regular dentist in Putnam and Boone counties. The mobile unit visits various FamilyCare sites offering oral health screenings, x-rays, fluoride treatments, cleanings, and sealants.

Though FamilyCare has been providing dental services from a smaller Miles of Smiles unit, this new 40-foot unit will be able to expand upon those services for patients. The new unit allows for more patients to be seen and services to be provided at one time with having two dental chairs, as well as modern and updated equipment for patients comfort.

“A patient could be seen with our hygienist for a cleaning and exam in one part of our mobile unit, and if they should need a filling they can be seen by one of our dentist in the other part of the unit in the same day,” said Aimee Buchan, dental supervisor at FamilyCare. “That’s not something we could do before with our smaller unit.  It’s a convenient way to treat their dental needs.”

In addition to the dental unit, FamilyCare also provides medical and behavioral health services to students in Putnam and Boone counties via school-based health medical units, as well as facility-based health to patients at their locations throughout Putnam, Kanawha, Boone and Cabell counties.