It's hard to miss the 40-foot-long bus covered with smiling children's faces that cruises around West Philadelphia.
Almost a year after its inauguration, the PennSmiles Dental Van program continues fulfilling its mission to "bring healthy smiles to the community."
The program works in conjunction with West Philadelphia elementary schools, planning visits through the schools' nurses.
"The philosophy that I have is that you must utilize all the resources that exist for kids and Penn's Dental Van has been an excellent resource," McMichael Elementary School nurse Ann Williams said.
The PennSmiles program began three years ago under Penn's former School of Dental Medicine Dean Raymond Fonseca, with its goal to create a stronger outreach to the West Philadelphia community.
When Fonseca stepped down at the end of last year, his successor, Marjorie Jeffcoat, embraced the program.
"One of our goals is to teach our students to be sensitive to a diverse group of people that they'll be taking care of in their lives as dentists," Jeffcoat said. "We really try to give them a range of experience, and this is one of them."
Despite its flashy exterior, the van is a fully functioning dental office on wheels.
Staffed by faculty and students of the Dental School, the van travels to neighborhood elementary schools and provides convenient care for children whose parents may not otherwise be able to pay for a trip to the dentist's office.
Inside the van are two dental chairs, along with three digital X-ray machines and three computers fully equipped with wireless Internet capacity, which was added to the van last May.
Along with the equipment is a small waiting room that includes a TV screen that runs cartoons constantly to keep the children entertained.
The van is staffed by four rotating dentists -- as well as fourth-year Dental students, who are required to work on the van at least five times in their final year.
"The treatment is the same treatment that we provide at the Dental School," Director of Community Oral Health Joan Gluch said. "With the Dental Van, we're reducing the barriers to access to care by bringing treatment to the children."
In its first year of operation, the van has visited more than 20 schools in the local area and has treated over 2,000 students.
"It's very beneficial for the kids," fourth-year Dental student Jenny Chen Lemper said. "We're very happy to see them interested in dental care. We can use our knowledge to come and treat children and learn how to work with children, because kids can be more difficult than adults."
On-site Coordinator for the PennSmiles Dental Van, Jacquelyn Taylor-Powell has been part of the program since it began and has been impressed with its growth.
"It was funny because we were [initially] on a mission to find schools to participate," Taylor-Powell said, "and this year we're booked to the end of the school year. It's been very successful. We've been getting more kids and adding more schools to the program."
For Taylor-Powell, the greatest satisfaction "is just seeing the kids smile as they come off the van."
