Bruton Memorial Library has partnered with the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County to offer free dental services for pregnant and postpartum mothers and their children.
Bruton Memorial Library’s public service doesn’t end when a member checks out a book or logs off a computer.
For years, it has offered a variety of programs to help its members live better lives, whether that includes offering help with taxes, connecting them to like-minded civic organizations or even improving their health. When the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County needed a base to provide its healthcare services to the community, Bruton stepped up to the plate.
“We’re here to help people find what they are looking for and having these partnerships at the library helps us connect important services with families,” youth services librarian John Russell said. “There are families who may not know that free dental care is available until they read about it at the library.”
The Florida Department of Health, in conjunction with Suncoast Community Health Centers and Tampa Family Health Centers, offers free dental care for children and teens, 6 months old to 20 years old and pregnant and postpartum moms, up to 6 months, in the county who don’t have Medicaid.
Carol Scheff, health education program consultant for the Department of Health in Hillsborough County, said they want to ensure mothers have every opportunity to have a healthy birth.
“When a mother is pregnant she can cause the unborn child harm because what happens is the bacteria in her mouth, whether it’s from periodontal disease or a cavity, that bacteria can travel in her bloodstream and go to her uterus and cause her to go into premature contractions,” Scheff said. “She can also develop preeclampsia, which is high blood pressure and protein in the urine and the only way to fix that is to abort the baby.”
If the baby is born too soon or at a low birth weight, its immune system could be compromised throughout the child’s life. Scheff said it is her job to stress the simple fact that the head and mouth are connected to the rest of the body and it is crucial to take care of oneself from head to toe.
The library is also home to routine blood drives via a partnership with OneBlood. Angel House, adult services associate at Bruton, said having programs to improve the health of the community is something the library loves to do.
“If you knew you could save a life, wouldn’t you?” House said. “It’s simple, really. This is an opportunity for us to give back to our community outside of the normal library operations. We help our patrons help others. What if that one blood drive helped save a life right here in Plant City? That in itself makes it absolutely worth it.”
The Suncoast Community Health Center bus will at the library on April 17 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those interested should call Scheff at 813-373-8665 or reach out to their WIC department to set up an appointment. Their OBGYN will need to approve the mom for the visit by giving them a pregnancy clearance form.
The bus does not do x-rays or restorative work, but it does offer preventive services like cleanings and fluoride treatments. The patient will then get a smile bag and a referral letter that lets them know what was done and if the operator saw something that needed to be taken care of. The referral will include a list of facilities so they will know where to go for aid.
This program acts as a way to get mothers and children out of their emergency, put them on a treatment plan and connect them with a future dental home.
“We’re here to find them a dental home and to reach those rural areas of the community that otherwise would not have any kind of exposure to dentistry…and to really understand that oral health is really the component of overall health,” Scheff said. “It’s so important to have a healthy mouth so your whole body is in good shape.”
