Traveling Tooth Fairies outline school dental services, seek continued city support

Representatives of Traveling Tooth Fairies told the Board they provide school-based preventive dental care and asked the city to continue supporting their work. "We provide evidence-based preventative dental care to every child regardless of whether they have private insurance, Medicaid, or no insurance at all," said Myra Nikitas, cofounder. She told aldermen the program served more than 3,500 children over the past three years and in the most recent school year provided roughly 1,500 student visits, 7,500 sealants, 1,500 fluoride varnish treatments, about 630 minimally invasive restorations and 370 silver diamine fluoride treatments.

Several aldermen asked why the group's request was included in the mayor's supplemental appropriation package rather than through the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) process or other CAC-recommended allocations. Alderman Morgan and others said the CAC is a deliberative process that reviews many nonprofits for community assistance, and asked city staff to explain why the charitable-gaming allotments and mayoral decisions were handled as they were. Tim Cummings said the administration could review whether items should be routed through CAC or other processes in the future and acknowledged the equity concern.

Nikitas described how the nonprofit leverages grants and partnerships — Northeast Delta Dental, Rotary, Lions Club, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services — and said the group's model connects children to follow-up care when needed. "Our commitment extends beyond schools," she said, describing mobile services at the Nashua Soup Kitchen and urgent connections to dental homes. Aldermen asked about charitable-gaming eligibility and whether CAC-funded organizations should have been considered differently; city staff said they would follow up with details and documentation requested by aldermen.