Redefining Access to Care
Senior Mobile Dental started in 2007 from one hygienist’s first-hand experience with our nation’s “oral health crisis”* among a growing-yet-neglected population senior citizens. Prior to moving to Colorado, Registered Dental Hygienist Michelle Vacha lived in a retirement community in Prescott, Arizona, where she noticed the difficulties many nursing home residents faced in receiving daily and professional oral hygiene care.Fortunately for underprivileged residents like these, Vacha decided to take action. Upon moving to Colorado, she discovered that Colorado law allows dental hygienists to practice independently from dentists. She then realized that she could help nurses by addressing dental compliance directly in the facilities, giving them more time to concentrate on the long list of other important duties essential to overall well-being.
Equipped with more than 20 years of dental hygiene experience, her Bachelor of Science Degree from Northern Arizona University, and a team of licensed dental hygienists, she began bringing mobile dental equipment to willing facilities to perform dental hygiene services for their residents. This is a rare task for a dental professional to attempt because, prior to that point, much of the focus on oral preventive care in the region was geared towards children.
“I was recently asked to take care of a gentleman with advanced Alzheimer’s because his regular dentist no longer wanted him to come to his practice. His family, who knew the importance of oral health, was willing to endure the difficulty of taking him out of the facility, and was rejected. Besides being against the law, this was downright heartbreaking! He ended up having an abscessed tooth, and was able to have it extracted by an oral surgeon whom I was able to recommend,” said Vacha.
Sustainability. Our Executive Director has twice completed the “Standards for Excellence Series: An ethics and accountability code for the nonprofit sector”, and other numerous capacity building courses offered in Colorado Springs, and Denver. Our goal is to build a strong nonprofit, with strong principles. We believe education is key.
*Surgeon General