"Access to care in Montana—access to all kinds of care—it’s called a health provider shortage in Montana. Because we are so rural, it has a lot of issues with access to care," says Crystal Spring, director of Smiles Across Montana.
WATCH:
Smiles Across Montana is a nonprofit dedicated to providing dental care across the state since 2018.
"I know we have CHP [Community Health Partners] here in Bozeman, and they take care of a lot of people, but they can’t always take care of everyone. So, like, I hope we can be something that lifts the burden off groups like that," says Spring.
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), Montana is one of three states with the largest dental service deserts.
And volunteer dentist Jane Mays says dental care is directly related to body health.
"If your mouth isn’t healthy, the incident of stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure, all sorts of ailments are much higher when your oral health isn’t taken care of," says Mays.
Spring tells me that a big part of the nonprofit's mission now is something called dental-medical integration, where they hope to address more than just oral health in their practice.
"We take inter-oral photos on all our patients and it’s an awesome opportunity when you see something in the back of someone’s throat; I can actually send that image over to their physician," says Spring.
And going beyond medical care, Spring says mental health has come to the forefront of their work.
"A lot of times in dental, we have such a close proximity to people, and it takes a lot of trust and that’s a really good time to ask some pretty simple questions like, how are you?" Spring says.
Mays, who lost her daughter to suicide last summer, saw firsthand the link between mental and oral health.
"My daughter at times struggled with depression and anxiety and when she was at her worst, getting out of bed and brushing her teeth or even caring about any sort of body hygiene was extremely difficult," says Mays.
This week's clinic is the biggest Smiles Across Montana has ever done—and Mays says it’s just the beginning of what they hope is permanent support for Montana.
"This is sort of our trial run year, but we want to get people excited enough and knowledgeable enough that next year it’s going to be bigger and better. More volunteers, more supplies, more money, all the things. This is just the start," says Mays.
Visit the Smiles Across Montanawebsite for information on the clinic that's happening all week.
