A collaboration between the Washington County Access to Care Committee, Washington County and Oregon Oral Health Coalition, the Dental Access Coordinator role is being piloted with Pacific University Dental Outreach Van and the Providence Promotores Program.
Within that new appointment, Sandoval is working to close the loop on referrals for dental hygiene patients, and she will be developing and enhancing a community dental services database for donated care. Data collected and lessons learned will help inform dental health providers and educators about how to best meet community needs through the CDHC role.
“I hope to be able to develop and enhance a community services database for donated care,” said Sandoval. “My goal is to help patients achieve better overall health by starting with a healthier mouth.”
For more than 14 years of her career, Sandoval worked in a federally qualified health center providing direct patient care to uninsured, underinsured and Oregon Health Plan recipients. In September 2018 she was hired as a part-time clinical instructor at Oregon Tech's Dental Hygiene program at Chemeketa Community College’s campus in Salem. This term she is helping in sophomore, junior and senior clinics.
Salem dental hygiene classes are taught on the Chemeketa campus with an occasional mix of online learning in Chemeketa's state of the art Health & Science Building. Students also learn and practice dental hygiene skills in the campus-based clinic where they see and treat patients. To learn more about dental hygiene majors at Oregon Tech or about our Dental Hygiene clinic, call 503.584.7101 or visit www.oit.edu/academics/degrees/dental-hygiene/chemeketa-salem.
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