RDH Spotlight: Megan Jackson

Megan Jackson is a Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) working at Summit Community Care Clinic at many of their locations – but her main focus is in Lake County, Leadville. The number one thing that interests Megan about the SMILES Dental Project® is the opportunity to be a part of something new that positively impacts the health of the communities she helps serve:

“As a dental hygienist, I’m always looking for new ways to help my patients. We chose to begin implementation of the SMILES Dental Project® in Summit and Lake counties because we were already embedded in schools there, and we have good relationships with school staff, parents, and kids.

“SMILES, in conjunction with the ITR bill, has played an integral role in helping our communities achieve better oral health. With Colorado paving the way for an innovative workforce model and expanding the scope of practice for dental hygienists, we’re able to provide more comprehensive care to our patients. RDHs now have more tools in our toolkit to better serve our communities.

“Specifically, tele-dentistry allows us to do virtual exams – including X-rays and intraoral pictures – onsite, which has already improved students’ oral and overall health in schools, and reduced barriers to receiving care for some students who would otherwise never seek care. Within a traditional oral healthcare model, many students in our communities wouldn’t receive care due to circumstances sometimes out of their control, such as travel to a dentist’s office, financial difficulties, and parents not being able to take a day off work to take them to a dentist. Through the SMILES Dental Project®, these children are now receiving care.

“I see kids who have never been inside a traditional dental office, who don’t know what dental instruments

look like, and who are very nervous and apprehensive about getting an oral health exam – not to mention, who may have a language barrier. To be able to provide education to not only children, but their parents, as well, is very rewarding – when they understand how important good oral health is, they’re so grateful for the services provided. The most gratifying part is being able to see the whole process come full circle: seeing children at the schools we serve, and then seeing some of them coming in for further treatment with a dentist.”

Megan and the rest of the SMILES team have been hard at work engaging communities and doing outreach events to expand awareness and reach. Indeed, the vision for the project is to expand to more counties, such as Chafee, Grand, and Park. We hope to take everything we learn from our pilot sites to these other counties to further break down the barriers for access to quality oral healthcare.

“I believe the SMILES model is how dental care is going to be delivered in the future, especially in rural areas,” concludes Megan. “This model fits perfectly into the communities we serve, and I’m happy to be a part of an innovative initiative that’s changing the way people receive dental care.”