Qahron Strickland knew he had a couple cavities.

It was this past spring, and Strickland, then a senior at Bethlehem’s Liberty High School, also knew there was a convenient way to fill those cavities: One of three dental vans offered through the Star Community Health Center at St. Luke’s University Health System would soon be rolling onto Liberty High’s tennis courts.

The vans, funded in part by Capital Blue Cross, offer area students and community members – many of whom are uninsured or underinsured – accessible, professional care that can be critical to their oral and overall health.

For Strickland, who didn’t have a family dentist, the van was an ideal solution.

“This just gave me a great chance to get the cavities filled,” said Strickland, 18. “It was right at the school, so I didn’t have to go all the way to the dentist. It was good.”

Of course, Strickland had a leg up in learning about the service’s availability: His dad, Lawrence Strickland, drives St. Luke’s Allentown van to various schools, helping others receive everything from basic dental checkups to fillings, sealants, even restorations.

Qahron Strickland is just one of thousands across Central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley helped over the past year by Capital Blue Cross donations to dental outreach programs.

October is National Dental Hygiene month, and research shows good dental health goes hand in hand with good overall health. The National Institutes of Health and a large body of research link poor oral health to higher risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions.

It’s costly for America’s businesses and economy, too. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), untreated dental disease carries an annual U.S. price tag exceeding $45 billion. The CDC also reports that U.S. students lose 34 million hours a year to emergency dental care.

Capital Blue Cross takes aim at the issue by supporting multiple mobile dental programs that make it easier for some harder-to-reach populations to get the oral care they need. In addition to the Star Community Health vans, those programs include Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Miles of Smiles and Mission of Mercy, which serves Harrisburg and Gettysburg.

The programs drew nearly 4,400 visits from June 2022 through June 2023, and the dental professionals staffing the vans applied more than 5,800 sealants and performed at least 1,300 dental restorations.

Strickland has graduated from Liberty High, and in June 2024 will head to Northampton County Community College to study sports management.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t visit his alma mater again when the Star Community van rolls back to tennis courts. He plans a return visit for his dental checkup.

“It’s only a 5-minute walk from my house,” Strickland said. “The people working in the van are nice. They’re very focused on their work, too. They’re respectful, very experienced. I’d recommend it.”