Eight-year-old Angel Huerta climbed into the plastic chair, leaned back, and opened his mouth wide. He resisted the urge to smile, but his eyes gave away his excitement.

Only minutes earlier, Angel had watched as Megan Rohman, a first-year pediatric dentistry resident from the University of Iowa, examined his sister’s teeth. Now it was his turn, and Angel was eager to show he had been paying attention.

“Wow! Looks like you’re getting new front teeth,” Rohman says. “Are you brushing them every day?”

Angel proudly nodded his head.

“Good!” Rohman says. “It’s important to brush morning and night, and to get the teeth in the way back too.”

Angel was one of 34 children of migrant farmworkers in the Williamsburg area who received a dental screening and fluoride treatment from UI pediatric dentistry and dental public health residents. The residents participated as part of a postgraduate course called Public Health Issues in Pediatric Dentistry.

For more than 20 years, the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the UI College of Dentistry has partnered with the nonprofit organization Proteus Inc. to provide on-site dental services to children of migrant farmworkers. Every summer, a team of dental residents and faculty members, along with volunteers from Proteus, sets up a temporary two-chair dental office in the community room of the farmworkers’ rural housing unit.

Parents were invited to bring children ages 18 and younger for a free exam. Each child who participated received a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a small stuffed animal.

“Occasionally, the dental disease present in some of the children has been so severe the children have been unable to eat or sleep properly, which ultimately affects overall health,” says Cathy Skotowski, director of the preventive dentistry program in the UI Department of Pediatric Dentistry.

In 2016, however, only eight children needed follow-up restorative dental treatment, Skotowski says. Staff members from Proteus provide transportation to the clinic and serve as translators for the appointments. Many parents also make the trip to Iowa City with their children.

Steven Huerta says he’s grateful his son, Angel, and daughters, Ariana, 5, and Alicia, 1, have an opportunity to see a dentist while the family, originally from Texas, lives and works in Iowa.

“We are happy for the help,” he says.

Joan Attridge, a first-year resident and lieutenant commander in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) whose residency at the UI is sponsored by the Indian Health Service, has provided dental care in the past to family members of migrant farmworkers.

“I enjoy interacting with down-to-earth, hardworking people,” she says. “That is one of the reasons why I chose to join the USPHS and work in the Indian Health Service.”

Attridge says language often is the biggest challenge when working with Spanish-speaking migrant farmworkers.

“Fortunately, many of the parents spoke English, so that wasn’t a huge problem (in Williamsburg),” she says. “In the past, older children have translated for the parents, or we have other staff who are fluent in Spanish.”

Rohman says providing the examinations in a community setting is much less intimidating for the children.

“If we create happy and welcoming dental appointments early in life, it benefits everybody involved,” she says.

Others involved with the dental outreach program were Kecia Leary, clinical associate professor, pediatric dentistry; Zach Percival, first-year pediatric dentistry resident; Nicole Youngers, first-year pediatric dentistry resident; Nyla Balakrishnan, second-year dental public health resident; Christa Hirleman, first-year dental public health resident; Mary Akers, dental assistant supervisor, pediatric dentistry; and Liz Skotowski, a pre-dental intern.