New dental clinic means more healthy smiles

On September 13 we did the official ribbon cutting on our new, fifth clinic!

Our Siegler Clinic began treating patients in February a few days a week before moving to a full schedule. The building was a dental clinic before OHP moved in and after a refresh of the space, we began using the five existing operatories. We now have 20 clinic ops in Green Bay dedicated to serving kids in need.

The open house celebrated many who made this project possible, especially Delta Dental of Wisconsin Foundation for its outstanding contribution to kids’ dental health and OHP. They were major supporters of not only our Siegler Clinic but our Main Street Clinic, expanding our School-Based program with permanent clinics in schools, COVID-19 supplies and equipment, and much more. They have supported OHP since our beginning in 2005. We are so grateful to Delta Dental and their support of oral health care!

Expanding to serve kids’ dental needs

Throughout the pandemic, OHP remained dedicated to treating kids and keeping them on their dental care schedules. When not able to get into schools to treat kids, the focus shifted to getting kids into the clinics. As restrictions have eased, many kids have not visited a dentist in over two years, if at all. This delayed care has caused more severe dental issues in cases that might have been minor if caught earlier. Our hospital care waiting list has increased 390% since January 2020.

OHP has been expanding in space and team members to meet the need in the community for dental care for kids who are uninsured or on Medicaid. With more clinic space and the ability to return to schools to see kids, OHP is on track to have a record-breaking year in 2022 with the number of kids treated!

More updates coming!

The Siegler Clinic came outfitted with much of the equipment needed for the dental clinic, but some were in need of updates. The operatory chairs work but are older chairs and we were unsure how easy it would be to get parts if they broke. The new chairs will be in the clinic in October and will have attachments that will provide air, water, suction, and all the tools needed to provide hygiene and restorative care like fillings and crowns. We are grateful for the support of the Brown County Health & Human Services ARPA Grant, Thomas & Carole Guyette and the Schneider Foundation for making the chair upgrades possible!

Additional support for the new clinic was provided by Humana, Green Bay Preble Optimist Foundation, Inc., Optimist Club of Green Bay Foundation and Resurrection Catholic Parish. We are thankful for the support of the community in helping get this clinic updated and outfitted to treat kids!