Delta Dental mobile program returns

For over a decade, a large truck has been parked at the Hill City School District for one week a year. Children can be seen coming and going from the truck throughout the day, and they all leave with bright, healthy smiles.
This is part of Delta Dental of South Dakota’s (DDSD) Mobile Program which provides oral health services to children up to age 21 who do not have access to dental care, a home dentist or insurance.
The mobile program began in 2004 and now consists of two trucks—Molar 1 and Molar 2—that travel across South Dakota. Each truck is outfitted with two dental operatories to provide patients with preventative, diagnostic and restorative dental care.
DDSD Program Services manager Zach Parsons said, “The Mobile Program helps DDSD meet our mission: everyone deserves a healthy smile. The program provides dental care to kids in the community who wouldn’t otherwise be able to see a dentist due to cost, lack of insurance, transportation or other access issues.”
Each truck is equipped with a coordinator, dentist, hygienist and dental assistant. They then visit a different town every week.
“Both trucks travel across the state, and we’re both out about 42 weeks a year. We call a home week when there’s a holiday. Then the trucks are parked in Pierre in the garage. So yeah, we travel every Monday, and we come home every Friday,” said truck coordinator Teresa Masteller.
Those traveling with the truck get hotel rooms and commute to where the mobile clinic is parked for the week.
Masteller said the hardest part is driving in a blizzard or extreme wind, but it is important to her “to give kids healthy smiles.”
Most often, the mobile program is sponsored by nonprofits like United Way, Boys & Girls Clubs, churches and schools. During the school year, they park the truck at schools, and during the summer, they usually park at churches, Boys & Girls Clubs, United Ways or Urban Indian Health.
“They’re really good as far as working with us. We get a system going, and it’s been great,” said doctor of dental surgery Greg Hanson. “It’s a good way ‘cause you’ve got a captive audience.”
In Hill City, the mobile program is sponsored by the Tin City Masonic Lodge No. 112 and has been coming since around 2013. Originally, First Interstate Bank brought the program to Hill City and asked the Masons to partner with it. When the bank decided not to run the program anymore, the Masons took it over completely.
“Because we’d been working with them so much over the years, we went ahead and we put our name on the contract,” said master Mason Ron Rossknecht.
Rossknecht is in charge of signing the contract every year so the mobile program can return and works with the school district to pick a time that works well for everyone. Along with this, Rossknecht seeks out donations to cover the $3,000 fee for having the program visit. When he first started, the list primarily consisted of businesses in Hill City. Now a number of community members are donating as well.
“We just reach out to people that really understand the value that we’re getting for $3,000. And then the nice thing about it is, we’re helping kids that couldn’t afford the dental procedures that they get done in the van,” said Rossknecht.
“We do a lot of things like this, and we know it helps the kids in this town. That’s the biggest thing—we know it helps the kids. Most of the money we either donate or we get it donated,” said senior deacon Mason Herb Cook. “I know how expensive dentists are, and I know these kids would never get anything if they didn’t get this.”
The week of Jan. 13 Molar 1 was parked outside Hill City Middle School. During that time, it is estimated that 34 children received dental care valued at a total of $27,609.
In 2024, 25 children received dental care valued at a total of $18,539. Of those, 64 percent did not have insurance and 52 percent had tooth decay.
Rossknecht said, “It really makes a person feel good about themselves knowing that’s what we did as an organization.”
“The Delta Dental bus is valuable to our students and families as parents simply fill out a permission form, return the form to school and the hygienists will give the students a cleaning and then determine if there is further dental work to be done such as cavities or future dental recommendations,” Hill City Elementary School Principal Samantha Weaver said. “This opportunity for our students might be the only chance some students get to see a dentist. The bus is free to all students, not based on income.”
“If they sign up and we have space for them, we see them,” said Masteller.
Appointments vary based on the child’s individual needs. Sometimes they need two appointments, and sometimes they only need one. Masteller said, “It just depends on how many cavities they have and the extent of their decay.”
On Molar 1, one operatory is for hygiene and the other is for treatment. They do restorative procedures as well. The only things they do not do on the truck are root canals and orthodontics.
“When they first get on the truck, we do an exam. We do x-rays, doctor counts their teeth, looks and sees if there’s any needs for decay. If there is, then I schedule them later in the week to get all their work done,” said Masteller.
Generally, Masteller said they see between 30 and 40 children per visit depending on the needs.
Masteller is going on her eighth year with the mobile program. Meanwhile, Darleen Bothwell has been a hygienist since 1991 and has been on the truck since 2019. April Smith joined the program in October, but she has been a dental assistant for 20 years.
Finally, Hanson has been part of the program for around seven years. After retiring in 2015, Hanson sold his practice, worked for a couple of years and then transitioned to the mobile program. At first, he traveled across West River, but now he stays closer to home with trips to the local areas.
“I like coming up here. I feel like I’m still connected to the people I’ve seen for 40 years in Rapid City,” said Hanson.
He especially enjoys seeing the Masons’ family members in the truck for dental procedures. Over the years, Hanson said he has gotten to see many of the same children and build a relationship with them.
“We have students K-12 who see the dentist. Our younger students have mixed feelings. Some are excited and can’t wait. Others have some apprehension. When they see their friends coming back from the bus with a positive experience, it helps build confidence and comfort. The hygienists and dentists do a fantastic job of walking students through the process to make them feel comfortable,” said Weaver.
“I think it’s great when they come in here and they look forward to seeing us because they’ve seen us before and they say thank you and stuff,” Hanson said. “But I also think it’s really cool that people like the Masons and YFS sponsor things like this because no kid should go through pain to be in school.”
“The best part is getting a child out of pain,” said Masteller. “It affects their school work. They don’t eat right. They can’t concentrate. They’re up all night.”
Sometimes children even have cavities on both sides of their mouth and come back the next day excited that they were able to eat without being in pain.
To the Masons, Masteller said, “Thank you so much for sponsoring us. It’s amazing.”
“I know what it’s like to have a toothache. It’s important to me because we’re not just helping only one or two individuals,” Rossknecht said. “We’re helping a whole grade school and high school and anybody that wants to participate in the program.”
Cook echoed this saying, “If you’ve got bad teeth, you’re in bad trouble. Your health goes down and all of that.”
He regularly encourages children to brush their teeth twice a day and thinks this is a great program for the Masons to sponsor.
“Hill City School District and our families appreciate everyone who makes this possible for our students. From the Masons’ chili feed in the winter to community donations, all the proceeds matter and help our students to support their oral health. We appreciate the Delta Dental staff for having Hill City as one of their stops and appreciate them taking time out of their regular schedule, away from their families, to provide care to our students,” said Weaver.
When asked why the Masons continue to sponsor the mobile program, Rossknecht said, “We’re just trying to be part of the dying breed. You have so many nonprofit organizations, and the Lions are still there thankfully, but what we’re trying to do is give back to the community. And that’s exactly what we’re doing. The Delta Dental program is just one of the programs that we give back to the community because that’s kind of the mission of being a Mason.”
The Masons even went the extra mile this year. When Masteller mentioned that they were low on diesel and needed to refuel to run the truck and generator, Mason Kade McVey said he had some on his truck. He promptly pulled alongside Molar 1 and refueled it out of his own tank.
In closing, Rossknecht said, “We really appreciate the exposure that we get from the Hill City Prevailer. Last year you did a really nice article, and this is what helps us when we go out to get donations next year. These articles let people really know what’s behind it, and the people that are behind it and a community working together to do something positive.”