Joseph Swanson, a first-year University of Florida dental student and president for the Class of 2029, could see that two young girls looked worried when they first arrived at Super Sealant Saturday at the UF College of Dentistry in Gainesville. But after being guided into the event's carnival-style activities, their hesitation quickly faded.
"It felt really nice to be able to pull them into the carnival, show them some of the activities and they started to get excited," Swanson said. "I could see that they were losing sense of that fear."
Moments like that are what Super Sealant Saturday aims to create. The annual event at the UF College of Dentistry offers free dental sealants, dental exams and fluoride treatments for ages 1 to 17, pairing preventive care with games and activities designed to help young patients feel comfortable in a dental setting.
For Nadia Spigner, a parent attending the event with her daughter, the experience provided more than just free treatment. Spigner said the students and faculty eased her daughter's nerves by painting her face and playing with her the whole day.
"It makes both of us feel better," Spigner said. "She's more comfortable, and then I'm more comfortable because of that."
The atmosphere is carefully created by UF dental students, many of whom volunteer their time while gaining hands-on experience working with young patients.
Super Sealant student-organizer Romina Homayoun, a fourth-year dental student, said the event allows students like herself to practice communication and patience in ways that cannot be learned solely in a classroom.
"Kids are very, very impressionable," Homayoun said. "If they have an amazing dental experience at this kind of age, that can really shape how they'll view dentists for the rest of their lives."
Faculty members at the UF College of Dentistry emphasized the long-term impact of early preventive care. Dr. Olga Ensz, one of the lead dentists involved in the event, said dental sealants and fluoride treatments play a key role in preventing cavities and promoting lifelong oral health.
"All of the treatments we're providing today are noninvasive, very simple," Ensz said. "We want kids to get that early exposure to dental care. We want them to be able to receive a dental checkup if they're able to cooperate with that because that way we can identify dental problems earlier on."
Super Sealant Saturday was co-founded in 2015 by Dr. Stephen Obeng, who said the event was originally created to provide access to care. While he was in dental school, Obeng was the community service chair of his class, and community service has always been his passion. He said he and his colleague Patrick Fitzgerald used some excess funds to apply Obeng's passion to the College of Dentistry.
"For a year, [we were] trying to figure out how do we make this event make sense, provide the proper access to the people that need it and then make it something that can be sustainable," Obeng said. "Dental [care] in general is very expensive. It's not something that everyone can afford, it's not something everyone has access to."
Obeng said he hoped the event would offer exposure to children and families to start a dental journey. In his first year hosting the event, only 67 patients came through for a dental exam. More than a decade later, Super Sealant Saturday now serves over 500 children and families.
"I planted a seed and I watered it a little bit, and you just don't know what happens after that," Obeng said. "It's like watching your baby just grow. Whatever avenue [the event] ends up taking, I just hope it continues to flourish"
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