As home to the only dental hygiene program in South Dakota, dental hygiene students from The U will offer services to anyone in need of care, especially persons with access issues, who are financially limited or without a dental home. The dental hygiene clinic will support a dental hygienist faculty member, a dentist and a receptionist. Six USD Dental Hygiene students will rotate weekly through the clinic to provide on-site teeth cleanings, X-rays, cavity-preventative agents and additional oral healthcare procedures. The facility will house six state-of-the-art dental operatories complete with digital radiography and digital recordkeeping, a sterilization station and a conference room. Laboratory and other facilities will be shared with the Falls Community Health Dental Clinic.

The clinic is a partnership between USD Dental Hygiene and Falls Community Health with funding for the project provided primarily by the Delta Dental Philanthropic Fund. In 1997, Delta Dental of South Dakota created the Delta Dental Philanthropic Fund to help support the company’s oral health mission. Money from the fund has provided student scholarships and assisted with the Dental Hygiene Department’s operating costs in the past. With the generous support for this project, contributions from the Delta Dental Philanthropic Fund to The U will reach almost $1 million. Additional donations for this clinic were generously provided by several individual area dentists.

For more information about the new dental hygiene clinic or The University of South Dakota’s Dental Hygiene Department, please contact the department at (605) 677-5379.

Press Contact
Hanna DeLange
Contact Email usdnews@usd.edu
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