Our History

Virginia's first public health dentist visits the schoolhouse
in Wise County in his "mobile dental van." (1921)

History

In February 1921, Dr. N. Talley Ballou was appointed dental director of the Bureau of Mouth Hygiene, making Virginia the second oldest dental public health program in the nation. In 1921 two full-time and two part-time dentists provided procedures to 4,803 children. During the early years, services provided for children included screenings, cleanings, fillings and extractions. Education was a major component of every program and emphasized proper brushing, reduction of sweets and regular visits to the dentist.

By contrast, in 2000 Virginia's dental program had 49 full-time dentists, 52 dental assistants and four dental hygienists providing services to 76 localities. As a result of their work, 27,906 children received dental services in a total of 55,651 patient visits. During that year, public health professionals applied more than 36,717 dental sealants to prevent cavities in the teeth of Virginia's school children.

• Read an expanded history of dental public health in Virginia.
  (.pdf document, requires Acrobat Reader)
• See Milestones in the Virginia public health dental program.
  (.pdf document, requires Acrobat Reader)