Sonoma County dentists, hygienists preach importance of clean teeth

“I’m going to give you a present to take home,” Erika Rosebaugh said to Guadalupe Mendoza, 5, who was pressed into a dentist’s chair Friday, her eyes hidden by sunglasses to shield her from the bright lamp.

“It’s her first time at the dentist,” said Guadalupe’s mother, Juana Aguilar of Santa Rosa. They were in the bustling St. Joseph’s Dental Health Clinic in Santa Rosa, one of 10 locations around Sonoma County offering free pediatric dental care Friday.

Rosebaugh, a dental hygienist, placed a white, snout-like device over the girl’s nose. It was a mask through which nitrous oxide will be emitted when Guadalupe returns to get the cavities that were discovered Friday fixed.

But first, Rosebaugh said, the family had to practice.

“Put it on every night, look in the mirror, sing a song, make it fun,” Rosebaugh said in Spanish to Aguilar, who nodded.

The event, which continues Saturday, was the 12th annual Give Kids a Smile Day; some 200 dental care professionals take part, treating an estimated 400 children under age 16. It is a front line in local efforts to prevent tooth decay or stem it before it gets worse, preventing worse health problems.

According to the county’s Department of Health Services, 51 percent of kindergarteners and third-graders in Sonoma County have tooth decay, which can have a host of impacts, from impacting eating habits to making it harder to concentrate in school.

Among low-income children in Sonoma County eligible for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program in kindergarten or third-grade, 68 percent have decay, according to the health services department. Among Latino children, the number is 64 percent.

“The majority of these kids are first-time dental users,” said Stacey Stirling, community benefits manager for St Joseph’s, as she stood in a crowded clinic hallway Friday, where women dressed as fairies handed bags of dental care equipment to children.

Some families said they had prior experience with dentists with whom they had not been happy.

“The most important thing is how they treat my daughter,” said Angelica Vieyra of Santa Rosa, who was with her 5-year-old daughter Sofia. She said she’d had a bad experience with a private dental care chain.

“There are a lot of people that don’t have patience with kids,” Vieyra said. “I heard that they do here and today I saw that.”

The goal as well is to bring people into the orbit of routine dental care, said Susan Cooper, a retired dentist who is now director of programs for Community Action Partnership, a nonprofit service provider that helps put on the event.

“We want to get people attached to a dental home so they come back periodically,” she said. “Our event is to get people into the system.”

Staff Writer Jeremy Hay blogs about education at extracredit.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach him at 521-5212 or jeremy.hay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jeremyhay.