This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Olga Ensz is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Community Dentistry at the University of Florida.
“He hides his smile in every school photo,” Jayden’s mother told me, holding up a picture of her 6-year-old son.
I first met Jayden – not his real name – as a patient at the University of Florida community dental outreach program in Gainesville, Florida. Jayden had visible cavities on his front teeth – dark spots that had become the target of teasing and bullying by classmates. The pain had become so severe that he began missing school. His family, living in a rural part of north Florida, had spent months trying to find a dentist who accepted Medicaid…