Good dental care is key to overall health. But not everyone in the Northland has access, due to transportation or insurance or both.

There are organizations working hard every day, to expand that, so they can serve those who need it the most.

One of them is Just Kids Dental. The non-profit is based in Two Harbors, and they bring mobile dental clinics to 10 schools districts.

Nik Humes has been their main hygienist for about a decade, after interning with them when she went to UMD.

“What I love is that I’m starting to be recognized by kids that have seen me at the school clinics growing up. It’s fun to establish relationships,” she said.

We watched Nik do her work at the mobile clinic at Superior Middle School. About 1000 kids in the district utilize the services, which include cleanings, sealants, and fluoride treatments.

It is free for them if they’re uninsured or underinsured. Tooth decay is the most common disease among children, according to Just Kids Dental. And Nik is proud to help prevent things from getting worse.

The school nurse staff work well with them, and are happy to see this service for their students.

Nina Derick is a health assistant there. “The preventative care they’re getting every year is helping so later on they’re not dealing with removals. Dental health is very important,” she added.

Zianni, who is in 8th grade, has been with the program for years. “It’s good because I can’t always make it to the dentist because of transportation.”

Another student, Mariah, shared, “It’s easy and it’s fun, and I can just walk back to class when I’m done.”

Just Kids Dental works with Lake Superior Community Health Center for urgent referrals for more serious dental problems.

Executive Director of the Center, Lee Homan, said they are hoping to expand their dental care services.

“When we open up our schedule for the next round of appointments we field 1000s of calls,” he said. That’s because they are one of the few clinics that accepts Medicaid dentistry, he said.

They’re working with a variety of partners on a new wellness center that would improve their dental capacity. The plan is to build it near Laura MacArthur Elementary.

Also, Children’s Dental Services is excited about their new clinic on Superior Street, across from the Minnesota Power building. They started seeing patients in October.

They’ve been doing mobile clinics in the schools for years. “We realized during the pandemic, we needed a bricks and mortar clinic to ensure continuity of care,” Sarah Wovcha explained. She’s the Executive Director of CDS.

Despite their name, they serve people of all ages at the clinic, which used to be a bakery and a department store.

And upstairs, they’ve added workforce housing. Something that dental staff can use.

The non-profit is also going to start working on a new clinic in Chisholm, right on Lake Street. “We bought that property in October, and will soon be renovating it to be a 4-8 operatory clinic,” Wovcha shared.

The United Way of Northeastern Minnesota has partnered with CDS to make this happen. And other stakeholders have been working together on the Northeast Minnesota Dental Task Force.

CDS takes all types of insurance. And if you’re uninsured, there’s a sliding scale for the fee.

Plus, they offer wraparound services, like helping families navigate insurance. And they have staff who can speak 25 languages, to help with communication.

For more information:

Just Kids Dental: https://justkidsdentalinc.org/

Children’s Dental Services: https://childrensdentalservices.org/

Lake Superior Community Health Center: https://lschc.org/patient-services/dental/