SFCC Dental School Needs Volunteer Patients

AVON PARK - Kelli Collier drove one and a half hours to have her teeth polished Wednesday morning, but it was no ordinary trip to the dentist office.

Collier, of Port Charlotte, is a student in South Florida Community College's dental hygiene program, and, like most of her peers, she travels across the state for the program.

Becky Sroda, director of dental education at SFCC, said she has received calls from interested students in Ukraine and Taiwan, but very few students are from Highlands County.

"We are here to serve the community, and I am not sure if they are uninterested or if they are going somewhere else," Sroda said. "Why would you go somewhere else for hot dogs when you have steak in your own back yard?"

Mindy Crown, of Bradenton, said Manatee Community College is two minutes from her house, but instead she drives about 75 miles each way for class five days a week.

"I like the small class we have here," Crown said about SFCC's program. "There are only 10 of us, so we have really bonded, and we get a lot of one-on-one time with the instructors."

The dental clinic, which overlooks Lake Glenada, has 12 stations, so Sroda said enrollment is capped at 12 students per year in the two-year program. Of the 15 accredited programs at community colleges throughout the state, SFCC's is the newest.

Sroda said in the program's four-year history, 100 percent of the students have passed the national dental hygiene written board and the Florida dental hygiene clinical board.

"They get excellent training in this program," Sroda said. "Our goal is to train a top quality hygienist
and a great health care worker."

Deborah Milliken, supervising dentist, said the students spend time in the dental clinic daily, practicing the skills they learn in the classroom.

During the first semester, they practice only on mannequins. Last week, during their second semester, the first-year students started working on one another.

"By the time they start treat actual patients, they are very competent," Milliken said, noting that students start seeing patients Feb. 12 and are looking for patients.

The clinic offers a variety of services from cleanings to sealants, at a nominal cost. Instructors oversee students the entire time they are with volunteers.

"The patients really pay with their time," Milliken said. "The payment covers the cost of supplies and disposing of things, but we need patients who can volunteer their time. The students are slow when they first start and we make sure they double check everything, so it takes longer than a typical dentist visit."

Although they admitted being nervous about making the step to real patients, the students said they are eager.

"I'm excited about working with patients," said student Stacey Barrett, of Lakeland. "I like helping people and showing them things they wouldn't know about otherwise."

Milliken said the job outlook for dental hygienists is excellent. The average hourly earning for dental hygienists in Florida is about $25, or about $52,000 per year, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Development.

"In Florida, we have concerns about access to care, so if graduates are able to relocate throughout the state, they have no problem finding jobs," Milliken said. "Graduates who are place-bound may have a challenge, but they find a job eventually."

Applications for the dental hygiene program are available at SFCC. For more information about the program or becoming a patient, call 784-7020.