THE ART OF DENTISTRY - School of Dental Medicine - Case ...

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BY TIM TIBBITTS
A GIFT THAT LASTS
SAINT LUKE’S FOUNDATION MAKES A LASTING INVESTMENT IN SCHOOL, CITY YOUTH
In 1998, Dean Goldberg approached Saint Luke’s Foundation for grants to support research. That request was denied. The grant the
School of Dental Medicine came away with instead was more than $40,000 to pilot the Healthy Smiles Sealant Program; operating
funds totaling more than $3.2 million over the first seven years was beyond Dean Goldberg’s grandest hopes at the time.
Healthy Smiles, which has become
a model service learning program
nationally, involves all dental
students in the application of a
plastic sealants over the biting
surfaces of the teeth of all second
and sixth graders in the Cleveland
Municipal School District.
“Poor children still have a lot of
risk factors: poor eating habits, not
brushing their teeth adequately,
and poor access to health care.
A lot of the kids we see in the
public schools don’t even have a
toothbrush,” explained Dr. James
Lalumandier, Chair of the
Department of Community
Dentistry, who runs the Healthy
Smiles Program. “Sealants can be
very effective in preventing caries
on the biting surfaces of back teeth.”
Rarely does a foundation give money to
launch a new initiative and then stay with
the program by funding its operating
budget on an ongoing basis. That is exactly
Saint Luke’s Foundation staff
Front Row: LaTida Lester, Denise Zeman, David Gretick
Back Row: Dan Harrington, Leah Gary, Peg Butler, Kim Fields Jackson
what Saint Luke’s Foundation has done
with the Healthy Smiles Sealant Program.
“Saint Luke’s is a truly remarkable
organization with outstanding leadership,”
said Dean Jerold Goldberg. “With them
we have a real partnership that is clearly
focused on making sure that we improve
the health and well being of the children
of Cleveland.”
After a successful pilot in 1999, the
Foundation informed the Dental School
that it was ready to support
taking the program district-wide.
In 2001-2002, the program
reached kids in approximately 50
schools. By 2003, the program
had expanded to include 75
schools. Today, all K-8 Cleveland
Municipal Schools are serviced.
In addition to applying the
sealants, dental students provide
hygiene education and conduct
examinations of all students,
making referrals to either the
Dental School, City Dental
Clinics, or to volunteer dentists
when immediate
intervention is required.
“Our bet was with Dr.
Lalumandier,” explained Denise
Zeman, President and CEO of
Saint Luke’s Foundation. “We saw something
in him that when you see it you
really want to nurture it. He said, ‘I will
not be satisfied until the kids in the city
of Cleveland have the same opportunity for
dental care as my kids do in Hudson,
OH.’ We’ve gotten nothing but pride
from our work with the Dental School.”
A conversion foundation, Saint Luke’s
Foundation was established in 1997 with
funds from the endowment which
remained when Saint Luke’s Medical