When your income takes a hit, you tighten your belt

Most of us have had this happen… job lost, income gone, belt tightens.
Business start-up, income gone, belt tightens.
Family tragedy, income loss, belt tightens.

There are so many reasons why people find themselves with not enough to go around. When the financial belt gets tightened, dental care is one of the first things to go. If you had a job with a medical/dental benefits package (that all-too-infrequent job perk these days), and the job is over, then getting to a dentist becomes something you have to budget for. Even basic teeth cleaning–that important maintenance activity–is expensive when money is tight.

Or, you take a busy mom, working full time in her home as a hairdresser or a writer or a daycare operator… dental care during business hours becomes an enormous challenge. And, if there are several children each requiring an appointment… well, you get the picture!

These are some of the reasons that Susanna Mosli started her mobile dental hygiene service. A certified dental hygienist for several years, Susanna’s idea for a mobile service took root when she saw so many kids and adults come into the dental office where she worked. “So many had really bad teeth,” she comments. “If someone has a job without a dental plan, then dental care slips to the bottom of the list.”

Sore gums, bleeding gums, infections getting into the blood stream… illnesses that can stay dormant until they erupt… these can be the results of ignoring dental care.

A single mom of three herself, Susanna knows first hand how difficult it is to budget for dental care. “So many people can’t come because they can’t afford it,” she points out. Often people need Xrays, new patient exams, and for a family of four, it can become very expensive once teeth cleaning is included.

Susanna offers this service by going to her customers. She sets up her equipment, a top of the line lounge chair capable of seating kids and adults (up to 300 pounds), a compressor with water and suction, and her hand tools… it’s the same equipment as a hygienist would use at a dental office. She uses an ultra sonic cleaner and sets up in her client’s home.

She does a dental exam and looks for build-up of plaque and calculus, which is a form of calcified plaque. She examines for cavities; as a hygienist she can’t diagnose but she can look for suspicious lesions and report those. She takes measurements around the teeth and looks for peridontal disease… this examination is absolutely free. Then she explains what needs to be done and performs a unit of cleaning, polishing and application of fluoride. She’s registered with Veterans’ Affairs, and other dental programs.

Susanna has developed family packages that are affordable and effective, and to serve commuting families, she has evening and weekend appointments. Imagine! She comes to you; you continue to do whatever it is you’re doing while she takes care of each member of the family, one at a time.

Susanna started Sparkling Smiles, her mobile service, out of concern for the numbers of families who aren’t getting regular dental care and to create a flexibility work/life schedule for herself and her family.

While she’s quick to point to the many advantages of a dentist’s office, it’s the cleaning service that is important for preventive maintenance. She sees a lot of advantages to a mobile service: young children have their first dental experience at home; there is substantial $$ savings at a time when money is tight; a family can carry on with their home based business while each child has an appointment. Susanna cares for the whole family without interrupting its schedule.

Susanna makes special accommodation for police, firefighters, nurses, commuters… people who have to travel for their work. She focusses on the ‘alternative’ workers who all benefit from her flexible hours.

Sparkling Smiles, www.sparklingsmiles.ca… for discussion, appointments, inquiries.