Hawaii dentists reach out to West Oahu, Kauai

The Waianae Coast of Oahu is but a 30-minute drive from Honolulu, yet also a light year behind in terms of wealth and health care advances seen in other communities of Hawaii’s most populous island. The spoils from tourism just don’t ripple out this far west.

But on Feb. 6, a group of volunteer dentists and staff traveled to the Waianae community. The team closed their private practices for the day, packed a truckload of donated dental supplies, and drove to where the road literally ends. For the fifth year in a row, the Hawaii Dental Association’s Dental Samaritans chose to spend Give Kids A Smile in this area, which has been hit especially hard by the economic downturn.

“This event is an opportunity to positively affect oral health in our Hawaii community, as well as call attention to the oral health epidemic and the need to educate families and improve access to dental care,” said Dr. Russell Masunaga, director.

The 27-person team provided dental screenings and oral health care lessons, and distributed toothbrushes, toothpaste and information packets to 900 elementary schoolchildren at Makaha, Holomua and Ewa Beach elementary schools. In addition, dentists on the island of Kauai visited about 300 children at Koloa Elementary school.

“It’s a good feeling I get from helping out the kids,” said Dr. Glenn Kaneda of Kailua. “I just enjoy doing it. It’s about helping people in need.”

“I like Give Kids A Smile because it’s well organized,” added Dr. Brian Kim of Honolulu. “I feel that my individual effort is more profound in affecting the community, more than just me alone trying to help out. It’s exciting to participate in a national event with a bunch of my friends in the Dental Samaritans.”

For a remote archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii enjoys a relatively good level of oral health. In recent decades, access to dental services has improved dramatically. Thanks to a state mandate (and the funding to back it up), most isle children can see a dentist when they need to.

However, keeping oral health a priority has become a challenge. As pineapple plantations are replaced by service-based industries, the 50th state now leads the U.S. in percentage of residents who hold a second job, even a third job, to make ends meet. When both parents work to pay this “paradise tax,” it doesn’t leave much time to monitor their child’s brushing skills, much less educate the child on good oral health.

“Parents are working too much to bring their kids into my dental office,” Dr. Masunaga explained. So, to maximize the number of children seen at Give Kids A Smile, his Dental Samaritans enlisted the aid of City Councilman Todd Apo, whose district includes the Waianae Coast, to work through the schools. “With Todd’s help, we had the full cooperation of local school principals,” said Dr. Masunaga. “We ran our event very efficiently.”

“The continued volunteerism by these dentists is extraordinary,” Mr. Apo said. “This program will benefit our community through its children—providing a foundation for their healthy future. Here in Waianae, I can tell you that parents really appreciate the pro bono care the dental community is willing to give. It’s a great service for working families.”

Craig Holbrook of Henry Schein Dental added, “Being in Hawaii, an island chain in the middle of the Pacific, can present special challenges for health care. Coordination and supplies are our responsibility, and we enjoy supporting the Dental Samaritans through Give Kids A Smile.”