Children’s dental clinic raises donations
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — St. Apollonia Dental Clinic is garnering support to sustain its pediatric oral health mission.
The nonprofit pediatric dental clinic, founded by Dr. Norma Desjardins and her husband Paul of Academy Dental, has recently received a donation of $2,528 from TD Bank and some of its Presque Isle customers and $4,000 from the Presque Isle Rotary Club. The clinic is also looking to raise money from the Tree Festival, all to help it expand its work.
Named for Christianity’s patron saint of dentistry, a young woman from Alexandria, Egypt who died in an anti-Christian riot in the year 249, St. Apollonia Dental Clinic offers preventive and specialized oral health care for children from around northern Maine and even New Brunswick, said Dr. Erik Johnson, the clinic’s pediatric dentist.
In some parts of the Canadian province, “the nearest pediatric dentist is like 300 miles away,” he said. Last year, the clinic served more than 4,000 kids, including those whose parents have commercial insurance as well as those who don’t. The clinic’s restorative dental services serve children with more complex issues that previously may have required families to travel to Bangor, Portland or out of state, said Johnson.
Looking to grow after its first three years, St. Apollonia has two current goals, said executive director Dr. Norma Desjardins. The first is a medical-grade central nitrous gas piping system for patient rooms, to replace portable tanks, at a cost of approximately $66,000.
The second, costing about $50,000, is purchasing certain operating instruments and equipment that is currently shared with The Aroostook Medical Center. “There are many little mouths with severe dental disease requiring full-mouth rehabilitation in order to become decay and disease free and achieve oral health,” said Desjardins.
For families to keep their kids in good oral health and avoiding the more intense dentist visits, Johnson has a few basic recommendations that also help general good health.
“If you’re brushing twice a day and flossing once a day, that’s taking care of the disease,” he said. Limiting sugar should limit cavities, so if you’re going to give kids sugary food,“try to keep the sugary snacks with a meal and not frequently throughout the day.”
