Prevention On Wheels: School-based Dental Programs Reach Rural Oregon Students - 02/27/26
Media toolkit: Watch a video highlighting two dental programs here
February 27, 2026
Media contact: Erica Heartquist, PHD.Communications@oha.oregon.gov
Prevention on wheels: School-based dental programs reach rural Oregon students
PORTLAND, Ore. - As February marks national Children’s Dental Health Month, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is highlighting several dental programs that bring preventive care directly to the state’s students, helping children receive services early and reducing the need for emergency treatment later.
OHA is spotlighting the work of the Community Health Centers of Benton and Linn Counties, and the Healthy Kids Outreach Program (HKOP) through the Mercy Foundation, the philanthropic arm of CHI Mercy Health’s Mercy Medical Center, a member of CommonSpirit Health, for expanding school-based dental care in rural communities. Both organizations are certified by OHA.
In Roseburg and many surrounding areas of Douglas County, two HKOP mobile dental units travel to 38 schools from Oakland to Canyonville and down to Glendale, bringing care directly to children who might otherwise go without.
About half of families in Douglas County live at or below 200% of the federal poverty guideline and roughly half of children do not have health insurance. As a result, some families turn to hospital emergency departments for urgent dental needs.
“We are tied to the hospital; we can evaluate what population is landing in the emergency room,” said Trina Simmie, RN, with HKOP through the Mercy Foundation. “When we first started, somewhere around 60 to 80 youth were landing in the emergency room with urgent abscesses or urgent needs.”
The program’s focus on prevention, a central theme of national Children’s Dental Health Month, aims to reduce those visits by identifying problems early and providing screenings, sealants, fluoride treatments and referrals.
In Corvallis, the Community Health Centers of Benton and Linn Counties also operate a dental van that serves 34 schools across rural communities.
Dental assistant Molly Perino manages the program and said reaching children early is critical. “It’s all connected,” she said. “It can affect kids in such a tremendous way, especially when they’re little. The earlier we get good habits and prevention started, the better off they are. A lot of our communities do not have fluoride in their water anymore, so this work is significant.”
Both programs collaborate with schools and local partners to remove barriers such as transportation, cost and provider shortages - challenges that are more pronounced in rural areas. Their work reflects OHA’s statewide focus during national Children’s Dental Health Month on prevention, education and improving access to care. Fostering healthy families and environments that promote health and well-being, (especially among communities most harmed by health inequities) is one of the goals of OHA’s 2025-2027 Strategic Plan.
Among the plan’s key strategies are implementing policies and procedures “that expand access to preventive health services and supports” as well as facilitating “equitable access to quality care.”
Program leaders emphasize that prevention not only improves children’s health but also reduces long-term costs for families and the health system.
“We really believe in prevention,” Simmie said. “Even though it’s not the money maker, it’s the money saver. It’s time to change our culture from putting out fires of chronic disease to one focused on prevention and the long game.”
For more on all of Oregon’s no-cost oral health programs in schools, visit this link.
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