Success Stories

The following are true stories of patients that have been helped by CMOHS dental teams. Stories were submitted by members of the CMOHS dental teams.
*All names have been changed to protect patient privacy.

Dr. Quyen Le Tran and her assistant visited the Brookings School in Springfield with staff from Tufts Dental School of Medicine and the grant program Smiles Across America® (SAA). SAA reaches over 400,000 children annually in school-based or school-linked settings with oral disease prevention and oral health promotion services such as dental sealants, fluoride varnish treatments and family education. With grant funding from SAA, CMOHS and Tufts are able to provide dental services to children in Springfield area schools.

A first grade student was recently seen at an elementary school in Taunton. This was his first visit with a dentist, and when he came in, we noticed that he seemed a bit timid. He was frightened that they were going to give him a needle and take all his teeth out. Dr. Dinn explained that he was just going to count them, then shine them up. He seemed to calm down, so they proceeded. Upon doing the exam, Dr. Dinn noted a few small cavities. Dr. Dinn and Nancy showed him everything they were going to be using. Again, he seemed a bit timid but allowed everything to be done. After they finished, he got up to go get his prize when all of a sudden, he said he had to go to the bathroom and unfortunately had an accident. Dr. Dinn helped him zip his coat, and told him that he would bring him to the nurse and that she was sure to have an extra set of pants for him. On the way out Nancy heard Dr. Dinn tell the boy to stand behind him when they walked down the hallway so he wouldn’t feel embarrassed. He smiled, said thank you to him and gave him a big hug. We were told the next day that the boy told the nurse that his dentist is “cool.”

The mother of a kindergartener called to inquiry about the CMOHS program that was in place at her child's school. She wanted to know how much it would cost for her daughter to be seen by the CMOHS team, and she explained that she was a single parent, with no dental insurance. We informed her that there is never an out-of-pocket cost for the children we see in the schools. The mom wanted to be with her daughter when she was seen by the dentist, so we let her know when we would be at her daughter's school. The mom arrived, and we brought her daughter down to see the doctor. She received an exam, cleaning, sealants and fluoride. The mom said she had been taking her daughter to see a dentist in the community, and it cost $100 to get her daughter's teeth cleaned. The mom said she was supposed to take her daughter for a cleaning in a few months, but she simply couldn't afford to take her. She knew how important regular cleanings were for her daughter's dental health, and had been feeling really bad about not bringing her to the dentist. The mom had tears in her eyes when she was telling me this. After her daughter was done, the mom gave me a hug and said she couldn't thank me enough for what we did for her daughter.

Dr. Bartek went to treat patients at the local high school, and saw a patient who needed two fillings. The young man explained to Dr. Bartek that these two teeth had been causing him a great deal of pain but because his family had no dental coverage it was out of the question for the family to pay out of pocket for this work to be done. The young man had been dealing with the pain the best he could but it was causing him to miss school and to be distracted while he was in school. Luckily for him, Dr. Bartek had grant funds to pay for the exam, cleaning, fluoride, x-rays and fillings. This young man was extremely grateful to our program and was looking forward to being pain free.