MORGANTOWN — When it comes to public health in West Virginia, oral health and dental care are not among the basic services required by county health departments.
Not required, just desperately needed.
The evidence of that need can be seen right here in Monongalia County, where the state’s only health department dental clinic sees roughly 6,000 patients each year.
It’s self-funded. It can be flexible in its fee scale. And it’s growing.
The Monongalia County Health Department held a brief ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday for two new operatories for MCHD Dentistry’s second floor space.
The expansion was made possible through partnerships with Delta Dental and Highmark West Virginia’s Charitable Fund for Health, each of which provided $50,000.
It was also made possible by Greg Campbell and Ben McGaha, MCHD’s two-man maintenance and construction team that handled the renovations in-house.
“We came to them with the project, and they didn’t run away, so that was a good first sign,” MCHD Executive Director Anthony DeFelice joked. “They just do good work and they do it timely and they stay on budget. We simply could not have done this if we had to hire a contractor. We’re very fortunate to have those two.”
The new dental space was freed up in 2021, when MCHD Environmental Services moved into a new facility, off Hartman Run Road.
Dr. Youseph Kassar is the program manager of MCHD Dentistry.
The Morgantown native said the roomier digs will be a benefit to both the patients and the MCHD Dentistry staff, which he credits with much of the program’s success.
“I love it here. The number one thing is staff. Some days are easier than others, but if the staff is good, if they support you, if they know what they’re doing and make it a fun atmosphere, that makes all the difference. And I think the patients really see that as well,” he said. “I’m all about doing good dentistry, but if someone can leave the office happy or laughing, then I did good.”
But the work being done at the MCHD’s Van Voorhis Road facility is just part of the story.
Staff make regular visits to Sundale Nursing Home’s on-site dental facilities, routinely check in at Wise Path Recovery Center and WVU Center for Hope and Healing and visit schools over a six-county region with Smile Express.
Tiffany Summerlin is a dental hygienist with MCHD Dentistry as well as the Smile Express program coordinator and go-to driver for the 2005 Winnebago turned mobile clinic.
She recently lined up a $500,000 donation from Aetna to purchase a new, modern, built-to-task mobile unit.
She told the Monongalia County Board of Health that Smile Express has served some 1,451 students in 60 schools since it was first deployed in 2018. She said about half those kids had one or more cavities, emphasis on more.
“We’re able to impact kids who otherwise just would not have a chance to have a healthy outcome with their oral health. It is really important the work that we are doing,” Summerlin said.
Monongalia County Health Officer Dr. Lee Smith said the work being done in schools by Smile Express reflects “the core mission of public health.”
Board member Donna Tennant agreed, noting it’s not happening by accident.
“It takes somebody motivated who wants to make a difference to be able to do something like this,” she said to Summerlin. “We definitely appreciate that so much, your motivation and desire.”
