All kindergarten and ninth grade students are required by Iowa law to have a dental screening before school starts and Washington County Public Health is providing two clinics to assist. I-Smile Coordinator Martha Hernandez says the screening is a simple visit that checks for any potential problems and helps connect families with services, “All we’re really going to do is just a basic screening and then detecting if there’s any dental concerns. If we do come across any weaknesses, you know, we’ll have that conversation with a parent that’s coming in with them. And if they have dental insurance, if that’s a barrier, you know that’s something else we can help with. If you don’t have a dental home, that’s something else we’ll be assisting with.”

She says that due to the pandemic, many dental offices have full schedules and are unable to get kids in to see them before school starts. The services are bi-lingual. The clinics will be offered from 3-6 p.m. on both August 13th and 19th at the Washington County Public Health Office in the Federation Bank building.