Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
JODI BISBEE, left, and Jen Boettcher, right, provide dental services to Hurley student Elloyis Manzer on Wednesday at the school. The free preventative program is offered three times per year to children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade through Wisconsin’s Seal-A-Smile program, administered by Northlakes Community Clinic.
HURLEY— Staff from Northlakes Community Clinic were at Hurley K-12 school on Wednesday to provide fluoride varnish applications, screenings, and oral hygiene information to students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade.
They are in Hurley for three days this week, Ginger Nuutinen, Seal-A-Smile coordinator, said.
Staff will return twice more this school year to apply dental sealants for students that need them, as well as provide more fluoride applications, education, and screenings.
The children receive the services regardless of insurance, at no cost, Nuutinen said. Children enrolled in BadgerCare or Forward Health Plan are eligible to have that insurance cover their services from the program, but there are no out of pocket expenses for families.
Funding for the program comes partly from Wisconsin’s Seal-A-Smile.
If children already get fluoride treatment at their regular dentist’s office, they still benefit from the program, Nuutinen said.
This is the second year NCC has been providing the program to Hurley students, and Nuutinen said that the school “has been fabulous to work with.”
—Katie Perttunen
