Community Service Collaboration

The community dental health component of the Fones School of Dental Hygiene is well known around the world. Its purpose is to continue the community outreach philosophy of Dr. Alfred C. Fones, applying the theories and concepts of public health when providing oral health care to community populations.

The Fones students and faculty provide oral health education, screenings, preventive services, and referrals to more than 9,000 people annually in Southwestern Connecticut and adjacent regions. The Fones School of Dental Hygiene is an important health delivery resource in the Greater Bridgeport area and is highly regarded in Connecticut as well as nationally. Dental and dental hygiene professionals recognize the name of the Fones School as standing for excellence in the education it provides to future dental hygienists and, most notably, for its outreach and public health services, which are considered innovative and models for other dental hygiene schools across the country. These services are provided by students enrolled full-time in the accredited educational program leading to an Associate's Degree in Dental Hygiene and are supervised by Connecticut-licensed dental hygienists.

Community facilities visited during rotation include:

• Yale-New Haven Hospital Dental Clinic
• Norwalk Hospital Dental Clinic
• Southwest Community Health Center
• Bridgeport Health Department/Waltersville School
• Public and private school children in grades K-10
• Head Start/Day Care/Nursery School children
• Pregnant adolescents
• Mentally, physically and/or emotionally challenged groups
• Drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers
• Homeless shelters
• Nursing homes
• Senior centers
• Adult Day Care centers

Norwalk Hospital

Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, founded in 1892, has become a center of medical excellence in Southwestern Connecticut. It is recognized for its education-oriented approach to patient care. The Hospital is a primary teaching affiliate of the Yale University School of Medicine; longstanding postgraduate programs with Yale include Internal Medicine residencies, fellowships in Gastroenterology and Critical Care and residencies for Surgical and Pediatric Physician Assistants. The Hospital has teaching programs with more than a dozen other colleges and universities. The Norwalk Hospital Medical Staff includes more than 300 physicians and dentists in more than 30 specialties; virtually all of them are board-certified in their areas.

Southwest Community Health Center

Called the "Miracle on Bird Street" when it was established in 1972, Southwest Community Health Center has grown to multiple sites providing comprehensive health care services. Affiliated with Bridgeport Hospital, Yale-New Haven Hospital and St. Vincent's Medical Center, Southwest Community Health Center is a nurse practitioner and nursing school clinical training site for area universities. With a staff of physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, dental hygienists, social workers and certified drug/alcohol counselors, Southwest provides comprehensive adult medicine, prenatal care, ob-gyn, pediatrics, adolescent medicine, dentistry and mental health services.

Southwest Community Health Center serves over 8,000 medical patients and more than 2,000 dental patients, and provides more than 8,000 behavioral health visits annually. The population served by the Center, based on the total Bridgeport population, is approximately 46% Black or African-American, 40% Hispanic or Latino, and 14% White, Asian, or other.

Bridgeport Health Department - Waltersville School

The Waltersville Clinic in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is a fully equipped, 6-unit clinic housed in a public school. It serves the children from Waltersville School, Pre-K through Grade 4. The Waltersville School dental clinic provides opportunities for dental hygiene students to practice and expand their patient care knowledge and skill in a functioning pedodontic clinical environment.