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| Dental Hygienist Crystal Mecham and Dental Assistant Veronica Duran checkup on a patient |
A dental program in western Colorado aims to help low-income and Medicaid families in rural areas, and it's now available in Parachute.
The Mountain Family Health Center program, dubbed SMILES (Spanning Miles In Linking Everyone to Services), allows Garfield County District 16 students to receive free or low-cost dental checks at their school once a week. SMILES has an existing presence in Avon and Battlement Mesa. The clinic is hosted at Bea Underwood Elementary School on Wednesdays and now at the Grand Valley Center for Family Learning on Thursdays.
"In western Colorado, especially in small towns, dentists will only accept patients with dental insurance," said Dr. Garry Millard, dental director at the Rifle Mountain Family Health Clinic. "The traditional dental model wasn't meeting the needs of the rural population." Read the full story in the Post Independent | Citizen Telegram.
