North Florida Medical Center asks Gadsden schools to renew dental outreach after serving over 1,800 students

Betty Cable, director of Dental Outreach for North Florida Medical Center, told the Gadsden County School Board on July 22 that her team provided services to more than 1,800 students during the year, completed more than 2,700 appointments and nearly 4,646 assessments, and delivered preventive and urgent care to hundreds of children.

Cable said 240 of the students were new to the program; 369 children had five or more cavities and 742 were designated high risk (abscess or pain). The outreach provided more than 1,000 students with dental sealants and roughly 1,000 cleanings, fluoride varnishes and silver diamine fluoride treatments. Cable flagged the local effects of state-level decisions, saying that "with the state of Florida eliminating fluoridated water, the needs for our children are going to continue to increase." Cable said the program is provided at no cost to students or to the district and is funded by grants and North Florida Medical Center contributions.

Board members and staff asked about service coverage in Havana and the Midway pre-K Head Start program. Cable said outreach leaders had been prepared to visit Havana but learned another provider planned to resume visits; she offered to follow up directly with district staff and provided an email contact (bcable@nfmc.org). She also described efforts to use a mobile bus to serve multiple early-childhood sites and said the program is exploring expansion beyond elementary schools to reach pre-K and Head Start sites.

No formal board action was taken. The board acknowledged the program and its volunteers and noted small refreshments were available for honorees earlier in the meeting.