A team of 20 dentists and dental students from the University of Florida, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Public Hospitals Authority and the Ministry of Education, brought oral healthcare to students in North and Central Andros. The initiative is part of the Adopt an Island program, spearheaded by Dr. Mitchell Lockhart, director of oral health at the Ministry of Health, which began in 2014.
"What we have done is recruit tertiary dental institutions to assist us in each of the Family Islands. This project in particular was the first one, and it's been on-going for the last three years," said Lockhart.
The team, which began seeing students on Andros on Sunday, March 5, is comprised of six professors, 10 students and a few Bahamian dentists who maintain practices in the United States. They have already seen 300 students. Dr. Lockhart expects that they will see and serve more than 500 students in North and Central Andros by the end of the week.
According to Michelle Bowleg, chief district education officer, that would account for about 50 percent of the current student population in the district. The team focuses on oral hygiene education, cleanings and general dentistry for primary school and high school students. The estimated value of the dental services provided is $400,000.
Dr. Ronda Moore, faculty member at the University of Florida and practicing pediatric dentist in Gainesville, Florida, said the team was happy with the progress it has seen over the three years its participants have been visiting Andros.
"We are very happy that the community has invited us back so that we can treat the children and serve the community," said Moore. "We have seen a progression between 2014 all the way down to 2017. There's been a great improvement in the oral health of the kids. We're very happy."
The Adopt an Island initiative has also run successful programs on Eleuthera and Bimini.
Dr. Lockhart said that, based on the success of the programs to date, he hopes that by next year the initiative will provide up to $1 million in treatments through tertiary partnerships. He said the goal of the program is to partner each Family Island with a tertiary dental institution going forward. To that end, the program has already been in conversation with Harvard University and with Nova Southeastern University.

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