Each week six UMKC clinical students, in teams of two, fan out across the urban core of Kansas City to deliver dental care in five community health centers. As participants in the Partnership for Smiles program, the students experience patients and practice settings they might otherwise never encounter. And because of the students' participation in Partnership for Smiles, the community health centers are able to deliver significantly more dental care than their limited staffing allows.

"What makes Partnership for Smiles so special and unique," says Michael McCunniff (D.D.S. '83), director of Outreach Programs at the UMKC School of Dentistry, "is how many different groups of people benefit from it. Our students gain invaluable clinical practice experience, the community clinics are able to increase their services, and underserved and impoverished patients receive the oral health care they need but have not previously had access to. Plus, Partnership for Smiles has enabled a variety of non-profit organizations to pursue their goals of improving the health and well-being of the greater Kansas City community."

The seeds for Partnership for Smiles were planted in the mid-1990s when the School of Dentistry performed a Medicaid access survey for the State of Missouri . The data that emerged from that study was discussed at a subsequent Health Policy Summit meeting of Missouri oral health practitioners, public officials and educators. Representatives of community health centers reported that their levels of dental staffing could not keep up with the demands on their services. After that meeting, Dr. McCunniff and Barry Daneman, director of advancement at the School of Dentistry , organized a committee to explore ways for the School of Dentistry to partner with Kansas City 's community health centers to increase the centers' volume of care while simultaneously broadening the clinical experiences of the school's students.

Former D.D.S. students Andrea Roark and Wade Owens were two of the 
186 clinical students who last year delivered dental care to 6,749 
patients at the five Kansas City community health centers 
participating in Partnership for Smiles.

The planning committee decided that the best way to address a community problem would be to involve the community. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest U.S. philanthropy devoted to health issues, and its Local Initiative Funding Partnership (LIFP) offered the ideal mechanism to do just that. The national philanthropy's LIFP would match dollar-for-dollar the financial support committed by Kansas City philanthropies. Eight local funding partners stepped forward to make Partnership for Smiles a reality:  Charles Curry and Company; John & Effie Speas Foundation, Bank of America; Hall Family Foundation; H&R Block Foundation; Linscomb Foundation; Greater Kansas City Community Foundation; Prime Health Foundation; and Sosland Foundation.

"The local funding partners in Partnership for Smiles," says Daneman, "deserve tremendous credit for their willingness to jump in and do something substantive to address the oral health care access issues in Kansas City . In fact, their enthusiasm has been just as valuable as their financial support."

The collaborative funding enabled Partnership for Smiles, in cooperation with the School of Dentistry , to hire additional clinical faculty who would deliver care and supervise UMKC clinical students rotating through the five Partnership for Smiles community clinics. William Cleveland (D.D.S. '59) serves as a full-time Partnership for Smiles clinical faculty member, splitting his time between Kansas City Free Health Center and Seton Family and Health Services. Part-time Partnership for Smiles clinical faculty include Jim Parrott (D.D.S. '72) at Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center , and Mike Kahler (D.D.S. '68) at Cabot Westside Clinic.

Clinical students rotate through the clinics twice: once during the winter semester of their third year and again during the summer and fall semesters of their fourth year. The students work in pairs, taking turns working as the dental practitioner and the dental assistant.

"Our students gain invaluable real-world experience" says Dr. Michael Reed, dean of the School of Dentistry . "Through Partnership for Smiles the School of Dentistry is fulfilling the component of the University's 'Vision Statement' that challenges us 'to create empowering partnerships that transform our communities by tearing down barriers, connecting minds and growing relationships.' That's exactly what Partnership for Smiles is accomplishing."

To sustain and build upon these accomplishments, Partnership for Smiles is establishing the means to be financially self-sustaining after the term of the program's initial funding expires. A variety of fund-raising events and activities are underway to promote the program's proven success and to expand the size and composition of its partners. To inquire about how you can become an invaluable partner in Partnership for Smiles, contact the Office of Alumni and Development (816) 235-2173 or (800) 887-4477.

Explorer Fall 2002 Index