About Fowler Memorial Free Dental Clinic

The Fowler Memorial Free Dental Clinic (FMFDC) was conceived after a community health assessment was conducted in 2005 by the Green County Healthy Communities Coalition. Members of the Coalition include: Green County school districts, Monroe Clinic, Green County UW Extension, Monroe Times, Black Hawk Technical College, Green County Human Services, Green County Government, Bank of New Glarus, Swiss Colony, Kuhn Knights Incorporated, Mosher Insurance, United Way of Green County, Dr. D. Delforge, DDS and the Green County Health Department. The coalition selected 3 priority areas that would be the focus over the next five years for improving the health of Green County residents.  The health care system and lack of access to dental care was identified as one of the 3 priority issues that the coalition chose to address.

The UW Population Health Institute Report indicated that in 2007, 36.2% of Green County residents did not visit a dentist in the past year and in 2008, 35.2% did not visit a dentist. The overall state average in this category was 23.5%.  In these WI county health rankings reports Green County was 69 and 60 respectively out of the 72 counties overall.  Green County Medicaid enrollment for August 2007 indicated only 29% of those receiving Medicaid insurance as receiving dental care. (2,802 people were not receiving dental care). These assessment results clearly showed there was a lack of dental services for people who have no ability to pay for dental care. It was also discovered that people who have Medicaid are not able to obtain dental care access due to the low reimbursement rates dentists receive for treating Medicaid patients. Unmet dental care affects the entire health of an individual.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services “Oral health is integral to general health. Oral health and general health should not be interpreted as separate entities.” The Coalition formed a special steering committee to explore the potential options to meeting the need for dental access. Steering team members include:  RoAnn Warden, Green County Health Department, Wally Orzechowski, Southwest WI Community Action Program; Julio Rodriguez, DDS; Drew Delforge, DDS; Kim Hawthorne; Vicky Evenson, Green County Health Department; Mike Sanders, Monroe Clinic; Kris Wisnefski, Parish Nursing, Monroe Clinic; Jeannie Blummer, Green County Human Services; Sue McGowan, St Vincent DePaul; Marcey Sink, Monroe Clinic . The steering committee explored several options for addressing the dental care access issue and decided that a free dental clinic model utilizing volunteer dentists, hygienists, dental assistants and non-clinical volunteers with a paid part-time clinic coordinator would be the best option for Green County.

The steering committee decided that the FMFDC would be located inside the Green County Health Department.  The clinic space at a Green County owned building was donated, built out and equipped with dental equipment donated by the widow of the late Dr. Fowler.  It is the initial intent to address dental needs of children between the ages of three and twelve who live within Green County, Wisconsin, do not have access to dental care and have a dental emergency. Once the clinic is established, older age groups and a broader geographic area will also be considered in the project.
 

For most of us the awareness that there are children who are experiencing pain and infection from untreated dental emergencies is both morally unacceptable and poor public health. Children with dental issues lose school hours for lack of attendance and focus. When there is dental pain, the focus on academics is diminished. According to the former Surgeon General of the United States, M. Joycelyn Elders, M.D. “Schools have a wealth of potential for insuring the future well-being of young people. You can’t educate a child who isn’t healthy and you can’t keep a child healthy who isn’t educated.”

The need for this clinic is apparent when taking into consideration the inability for financially challenged individuals enrolled in Medicaid to receive dental care, the increasing number of individuals without health care coverage not receiving dental care, the low reimbursement to dentists, and the decreased number of dentists serving in rural and high need areas. For patients, especially children, who are low income and/or enrolled in Medicaid it is very difficult to obtain routine dental care from dental providers. Therefore, children who are experiencing a dental emergency have few options and are limited to visiting a physician in an emergency room, a school nurse or suffer pain. Sometimes infections that harm children’s health may lead to permanent damage to their teeth and overall development.

Program Description:

The dental clinic steering committee formed itself into a governing board. The clinic has become a Wisconsin non-profit organization and was approved as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization by the IRS. FMFDC opened on April 3, 2009 and treated ten patients.  These patients were experiencing dental emergencies and had been pre-screened and referred by school nurses, health department staff, medical providers, and social services. For the most part patients will be seen at the FMFDC, however if some volunteer dentists would rather see them in their own private offices that would be managed by the clinic coordinator.

Location and Hours