Maui CC Opens New Dental Program
By Patricia Adams
Maui Community College

It is no coincidence that Maui Community College recently added a dental assisting certificate program at almost the same time that Maui County gained a new oral health center. It was part of a carefully formulated plan to provide dental care for low-income families and to train professional dental assistants for already available positions in the community.

The first 13 students enrolled in the two-semester Maui CC program are attending classes and receiving hands-on training at the new Maui Oral Health Center in Wailuku. The center, which opened for patients in October, is the first facility of its kind on Maui.

Maui CC nursing professor Nancy Johnson was instrumental in establishing the center. "This is a dream come true and it would not have been possible without everyone working together," she says.

The Department of Health, Community Clinic, Mobile Care Health Project, Veteran’s Administration Center and Native Hawaiian health-care agency Hui No Ke Ola Pono are partnering with Maui CC in the effort.

Maui County provided a one-year, $110,000 grant for rent and part of the salary costs, and local dental professionals donated chairs, X-ray equipment and other supplies. Many of the dentists will serve as guest lecturers for the students.

The center will focus on providing preventative and routine dental care for families, including cleanings, fluoride supplements, dental sealants and health screenings. Patients will be asked to donate $1 per visit. Denture and other needs will require additional charges. Dentists Daniel Myeda and Wendie Schwab and dental hygienists June Vierra and Joyce Yamada serve as faculty and staff.

Now open one day a week, the center will extend its hours as soon as funds for additional staffing are available. "We’ll be looking for federal and state sources for funds," says Johnson. "The need is critical." According to Lorrin Pang of the state Department of Health, more than 30 percent of Maui County residents have inadequate access to dental care. On a statewide level, 81.5 percent of first-graders in Hawai‘i have one or more cavities in their permanent teeth, compared to six percent nationally.

The center and Maui CC’s dental assisting program will work to lower those figures. Johnson says plans are underway to expand the Maui CC program to a two-year associate degree in dental hygiene. "Many jobs are available in this field, " she says, "both in the private and public health sectors."