I come from a family who has been doing general dentistry on the Westside of Kauai for over 100 years. My great-grandfather was an unlicensed, part-time dentist in the plantation camps, my grandfather practiced in Waimea, my father in Hanapepe,
I come from a family who has been doing general dentistry on the Westside of Kauai for over 100 years. My great-grandfather was an unlicensed, part-time dentist in the plantation camps, my grandfather practiced in Waimea, my father in Hanapepe, and I have been doing dentistry in Hanapepe and Waimea for over 25 years.
It has been an honor and a privilege to take care of generations of families in this wonderful, agricultural-based community.
This month, nationally, is recognized as Dental Health Month. Why? It is important to understand the truly significant impact that oral health has on the health and welfare of every individual in this country.
Oral health has economic and social impacts that often guide our everyday decisions. Here in Hawaii, the oral health of our children is being uniquely challenged everyday. Hawaii has chronically had one of the worse children’s oral health in the country. Hawaii has failed to meet the national benchmarks aimed at improving children’s dental health and has received a failing grade, compared to the rest of the United States.
Uniquely, we have one of the most diverse cultures within our communities, which often create barriers to oral care. Language barriers, customs, trust issues and culture are just some of the challenges. We are an island state. The majority of the population lives on one island and so do the majority of dentists, often creating access to care challenges.
We recently lost the Dental Division as part of the Department of Health due to budget costs, limiting our ability to manage the broad base of oral health issues in Hawaii.
Kauai has, for many years, been at the forefront of improving dental health care for children in Hawaii. Kauai was the first neighbor island to establish community-based dental clinics outside of Oahu. It was also the first island to have a community based dental health task force, which has reached out to other neighbor island counties.
Understanding the issues are one thing, solving the issues is another. It will take community-based initiatives supported by the dental professional to begin to address the needs. Ask your dental professional about what he or she is doing to help access the needs of the underserved children of Kauai and our communities. Ask yourself how you can help.
• Stanwood H. Kanna of Kalaheo has a dental practice in Hanapepe.
