East County dentist brightens smiles

Creekwood Dental will host "Give Kids a Smile Day" from 1-4 p.m., tomorrow, Feb. 5, at its office, 5210 Creekwood Blvd. This event allows students in need from Manatee County's Public Schools to have free access to dental care provided by seven dentists and four hygienists.

Students are identified for participation in this program through school nurses that work in Manatee schools. The dental professionals hope to provide treatment to about 50 students on Friday.

Although Creekwood Dental’s outreach is part of the national Give Kids a Smile day, the connection to East County schools was made possible last year through the work of Myakka City Elementary nurses Alison Small and Deidre Olson, Braden River/McNeal Elementary nurse Cheryl Stuart and Sue Troxler, health services specialist for Manatee County Public Schools.

The nurses became concerned at the decay they were seeing in students’ mouths and the effects it was having on their ability to learn.

In 2008, The East County Observer published an  article about their vision to provide dental care to their students. Several dental professionals responded, and Creekwood Dental was the first to offer its services in full, Troxler said.

“This has been a little grassroots effort, and we feel like the momentum is going,” Troxler said.

Contact Michael Eng at [email protected].