Learning by Doing – STCC Dental Hygiene Clinic Offers Valuable Services to Community

The rising cost of dental insurance, or lack of coverage, can cause families to skip going to the dentist. Combine that with pre-existing complications or fears of having work done, and it’s tough to be in the business of treating patients who are in need of help.

Dental hygiene students at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) are no strangers to the anxiety, fears, and frustrations many patients have when it comes to oral hygiene and visits to the dentist. The students, who undergo the rigorous two-year program to obtain their associate degree, are qualified to help patients navigate through the process of good dental healthcare. Many patients don’t realize routine cleanings are as important as visiting their primary-care physicians, as oral hygiene is the window to their overall healthcare.

“We educate our students not just for a career, but also to provide outreach services to our community,” said STCC Associate Professor of Dental Hygiene Michelle Sirois. “Dental hygienists have a long history of supporting access to care and being a part of the healthcare profession that is truly focused on prevention as its core foundation. We play a key role in the delivery of healthcare services to prevent and help treat disease while it’s still manageable.”

As part of their training, students must work on a number of patients with a variety of dental issues in the STCC dental hygiene clinic, located on the STCC campus in Building 20. The clinic, which is open to the public, offers a full range of dental-hygiene services to the community and is overseen by licensed dentists and hygienists. Services offered include routine cleanings, sealants, chemotherapeutic placement, tooth whitening, dietary assessment and nutritional counseling, X-rays, deep scaling, and more.

The goal when the clinic opened six years ago was to provide full dentistry services to uninsured and underinsured individuals and families, while serving as a clinical site for STCC students. The clinic would make dental care more accessible to people in Greater Springfield — there are a few clinics already in existence, but continuity of care has always been a challenge — and thus create progress with one of the region’s most vexing healthcare concerns.

For patients with dental insurance, reimbursement paperwork can be submitted after treatment. But for those who do not have insurance, the clinic is a cost-effective way to get the treatment they need. The one-time fee patients pay for their services is all they pay — so there’s no further billing once they’ve walked out the door. And the quality of care and services provided mirror what a local dental office would provide, Sirois said. “Our students are trained to provide the highest level of excellence in dental hygiene care. Area dentists are constantly seeking our graduates.”

Christine Bertoncelli, 30, is one of those sought-after recent graduates. Despite starting the program while nine months pregnant with her son, her hard work and determination to do well in the program has paid off.

“When I applied to the program, I had just found out I was pregnant,” she said. “My husband said, ‘just go for it!’ And I honestly think it made me even more motivated to stick with it and move forward with my education. At first I felt a little like a fish out of water, but with all the guidance from my instructors, I settled in.”

In addition to the work Bertoncelli and her classmates do in the STCC dental clinic, they also participate in area outreach programs to help educate the community about dental healthcare and preventive measures as well as how nutrition impacts their oral care. Seniors are required to participate in external site visits and frequent area veteran and healthcare centers.

“We want our students to leave the program completely confident and competent as they enter the challenging, yet rewarding, workforce,” said Sirois. “The clinic is fully equipped with all the latest technology in the field, including digital radiographs. We also have more aggressive cancer screenings and hands-on training thanks to the STCC SIMS Medical Center. We’re as progressive as possible thanks to the new technology we’ve added.”

The STCC dental hygiene program is one of the school’s “competitive” programs, she added, explaining that grades are paramount, and prerequisites for the program are substantial. “Our students need to be able to juggle multiple science classes and manage their time effectively to be successful in this program. They also need to be ready to dedicate themselves fully to the program for two years.”

The intense training and externships the students complete, she said, ensure they are well-prepared to take their board exams for licensure — all the while providing an invaluable service to the community at large.