PORTLAND — “Does it hurt?” Vannessa Higgins asked through her dental face mask.
“No! They’re anesthetized,” Dr. Lionel Vachon, a dentist, said with a grin as he peered down at the mouth of the patient simulator.
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That was all Higgins needed to hear.
She took a high-speed drill and began preparing a lower tooth in the mannequin’s mouth for a filling.
“Beautiful. Good job,” Vachon said.
Higgins, who will be a sophomore at the Ashland District School in the fall, is one of 28 Maine high school students attending the second Dental Careers Exploration Camp being held at the University of New England this week. The camp is intended to expose students from rural areas to dental careers, in hopes they’ll pursue them and return to their communities to work.
Higgins, for example, is from Masardis, a 249-person town tucked between the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and the Canadian border about 30 miles to the east.
At the camp, students learn how to prepare and fill cavities on a patient simulator, suture “gums” – actually raw chicken breasts, diagnose X-rays, and monitor a patient’s pulse, blood pressure and respiration.
Monday was devoted to hands-on clinical work. Later students will attend lectures and discussions, and job shadow at nearby dental offices.
“This is phenomenal. I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Dr. Joan Sandell, a dentist hired recently by UNE to help set up its dental school, which is scheduled to open in 2012.
The camp is the result of a partnership between UNE and Gear Up, a division of the Maine Department of Education that promotes higher education for students in rural and economically disadvantaged communities.
“The hands-on-experience is great,” said Ashlyn Drumm, who will be a senior at Oxford Hills High School in the fall. She said she wants to be dental hygienist.
Most counties in Maine have shortages of dental professionals, including dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants and dental lab technicians, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
The shortage of dentists is expected to hit Maine hard within the next five years, according to the American Dental Education Association. Forty-one percent of dentists in Maine are 55 or older, and the number of dentists who will retire soon is expected to exceed the number of people who will graduate from dental school.
“We really hope this camp and program helps,” said David Burtt, the project manager behind UNE’s dental career program. In addition to the camp, Burtt takes the dental patient stimulator to Maine high schools to give demonstrations and invite students to try their hand at dentistry.
Sponsored by TD Bank, the Betterment Fund and Bangor Savings Bank, the camp is free of charge. Students receive scrubs, live in dorms, eat in the dining hall and learn from students and teachers affiliated with the dental hygiene program at UNE.
“I’ve always wanted to be a dentist,” said Catherine Lamb, who will be a sophomore at Oxford Hills High School. “I have learned a lot here so far.”
Staff Writer Ellie Cole can be contacted at 791-6359 or at: ecole@pressherald.com
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